





LIBRARY OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


© cece 
JSOV 
1891 











Return this book on or before the 
_ Latest Date stamped below. 


Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books 
are reasons for disciplinary action and may 
result in dismissal from the University. 


University of Illinois Library 


wav 26/1965 





L161—O-1096 








ALL SIZES, § 
STYLES # PRICES, 


)—— FoR—— 


PEOPLE OF ANY AGE 


OR SEX. 


Z| sent ron carcooues | 
LARGEST BICYCLE HOUSE IN AMERICA. § 


AGENTS WANTED. 


CHAS. F. STOKES MFG. CO., _ 


293 and 295 Wabash Avenue, CHICAGO, ILL. - 






























































ooh. 
Cevesratep Liars 


Correct Styles. Extra Quality. d 
The Dunlap Silk Umbrella. 


CHICAGO—Palmer House. 
NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA. 
5th Ave. & 23d St. “14 Chestnut St. 


} AGENCIES IN ALL PRINCIPAL CITIES, 
(Send for Fashion Plate.) 











CHICAGO 
OPERA HOUSE 


FIREPROOF 


DAVID HENDERSON, Manager 


“THE LILIPUTIANS” 


M°CAULL OPERA Co. 


“THE TAR AND THE TARTAR’? 
TWO WEEKS 





W. H. CRANE 


“THE SENATOR” 


FOUR ERK S ie 


[HE PANORAMA - THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURR®, 


| DOEN FROM GA. M. Corner WasasH Av. 
TikL10:30 P.M. a AND PANORAMA Piacg, 





his Panorama is mpl fiataia rts ehhoadad by the two millions of people who have seen it to Be. 
the most kee trppeed & work of art ever seen in the United States. Itmust be seen in ordert 1 
pave an idea of its striking realistic effects. It took, at once, the first position and still halde, Se 
it against all the competition in this country and is to-day the Standard Attraction of Chicago-. 


EDEN MUSEE, wi ctee 
ime Wabash Ave. sa Tekan Stree ‘ 


Extensive Collection of Grouse nid of Groups and Tableaux in Wax. 





Lee’s Surrender to Gen. Grant. 
The Rulers of the World. 
An Audience with Pope Leo XIII. 
The Chamber of Horrors, Htc. 
Tiluminated Stereoscopic Views from 
All Parts of the World, ES 





Every Afternoon and Evening 


GRAND CONCERTS! 


AND VARIED ENTERTAINMENTS. 7 
ADMISSION TO ALL Soc, CHILDREN 25¢. 
ee pee) es Some 108 ms 69) 10-80. p | a 









THE REALIZATION OF AN AGENT'S DREAM. 


The day dream of every active agent, engaged in supplying the people with 
“books easy to sell and good to have, is always to secure a book that almost every 
intelligent person would desire to possess. 
The books by ‘Josiah Allen’s Wife” have the longed for merits. Everyone 
on first glance over the pages of any one of her books, wants to read it. 


"Samantha Among the Brethren” 


is her latest and greatest work. (See particulars on preceding page.) Many thou- 
sands of this, her new book, will soon be sold. Agents will simply coin money 
taking orders for it... Her books never fail. SF 


WHAT AS THE SECRET 2 


Itis that her works are full of—well, let others speak. Listen ! 

SERIOUS READERS become absorbed in her writings because of their quaint 
*ogic, telling arguments, good objects and decided power. HUMOROUS READERS are 
simply carried away with them—both sexes, all ages (the little ones laugh over the 
pictures)—all are captivated. The agent’s day dream is realized in this—her books 
sell everywhere and to all kinds of people. “SAMANTHA AMONG THE 
BRETHREN ” is considered her best work. It is also the latest. 


SENATOR HENRY W. BLAIR says: 

“T read everything from the pen of Josiah Allen’s Wife just assoon as I can getit. 
I have often thought, when wearied out with grave and exhausting labors, that one 
great reason why I wanted to live, in fact, why I continue to live, is, that Miss Holley 
writes a book occasionally and that I read it, and keep on reading the old one untila 
new onecomes. Her works are full of wit and humor, and yet are among the most 
logical, eloquent, pathetic and instructive productions of our time in the discussion 
of the great questions.” 


COMMERCIAL-GAZETTE, Cincinnati, says: 

“Josiah Allen’s Wife’ is a singular being. Given somewhat to phonetic 
orthography, she does not commit such wild extravagances in that way as the 
late ‘Josh Billings,’ but her wit is none the less pungent, her hits none the less 
telling. * * * The vein of humor running through the story will bring | 
=, smile through the tears; but there is not a funny incident which does not cover 
a barbed arrow directed against injustice which enters the soul, lacerating the 
feelings and checking the laugh with a sob. The hand of a pains-taking literary 
artist is everywhere apparent. apo as * The author is master of the art 
that hides art. It seems so natural that ‘Josiah Allen’s Wife’ should say just what 
she does say, under the circumstances, should view subjects just as she views 
them, and she is so candid, philosophic, upright as well as downright in her 
sentiments, that the reader is swayed sympathetically towards her conclusions, 
whether his former impressions harmonized with hers or not.” 


MISS FRANCES E. WILLARD says: 

*“Modern fiction has not furnished a more thoroughly individual character 
than ‘Josiah Allen’s Wife.’ She will be remembered, honored, laughed and cried 
over when the purely ‘artistic’ novelist and his heroine have passed into oblivion. 
* * * Sheis a woman, wit, philanthropist and statesman all in one.” 





AGENTS WANTED. SE E eee NG PARE AGENTS WANTED. 


H. J. SMITH & CO., | 


841-351 Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill,; 234-236 §, Eighth 8t,, Philadelphia, Pa. 
_ Exclusive general agents for sale of this book in the United States. 





THE 


VOICE OF LABOR 


; 


4 


CONTAINING 


Special Contributions by Leading Workingmen throughout the 
United States, with Opinions of Statesmen and Legis- 
lators upon the Great Issues of the Day. 


PLAIN TALK BY MEN OF INTELLECT 


LABORS RIGHTS, WRONGS, REMEDIES 


AND PROSPECTS. 


_ HISTORY OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR, THEIR 
AIMS, USEFULNESS, ETC. 


_ The Political Future of the Workingman. 


THE QUESTIONS OF LAND, LABOR, CAPITAL, TRANSPORTA- 
TION, REFORM, PROGRESS AND SOCIAL CONDITION 
OF THE WORKINGMAN THOROUGHLY 
INVESTIGATED. 


_MISTORY OF. THE FARMERS’ ALLIANCE. 
REVISED AND ENLARGED. 
By 8S. M. JELLEY. » 


RIVE Keb 
[LLusTRATED with Finn Portraits anp ENGRAVINGS. | 


He ov & CO. 


PHILADELPHIA. CHICAGO. KANSAS CITY, 
SAN FRANCISCO. 


1891. 


Entered according to Actof Congress, in the year 1888, by 
H. J. SMITH & CO. 3 


In the Office cf the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 


a, oe 


S 
- 


tape 


SP ROOE, 


a 
A\ 9. pus 


~ 


din a ant nea ee ee ™) As \ Sa UA, 


Qa 


ey 


Ge ea LO 
o% 
- 


pian 


pears 


give ee 
PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE. 
Cop. ohn 


gr has been said that the literature of an age is 
but the reflex of the times, and Tor Vorck,or LAsor 
is not an exception. The labor movement has been 
a great theme for both the people and the press 
during the last few years, and in consequence there 
has risen a demand for literature upon the subject. 

The workingman of to-day seeks to understand 
the economics which govern his financial condition, 
yet beyond the speeches of the men at the head of 
his organizations, the labor press and a few so-call- 
ed labor books, the sources of knowledge in this 
direction tending to his benefit, are comparatively 
limited. 

In order to present the various phases of the 
great problem, as viewed by reformers, we have 
secured from those prominently identified with the 
labor movement, from statesmen, editors, writers 
and workingmen, much of the material made use 
of by the author. 

A candid exposition of facts concerning the wel- 
fare of the wealth-producing classes, and of the 
methods by which they can remedy the wrongs that 
prevent them from bettering their condition, cannot 


prove to be other than a valuable source of benefit 


373740 


and instruction. 


AUTHOR'S PREFACE, — 


The readers who will best appreciate the contents | 
of this book are those who are not biased by false 
ideas, and those who have given social science and 
the labor question some thought. [or an exhaust- 
ive work upon each phase of the question the pages 
of a score of volumes would be required, therefore, « | 
I have dealt only with the greater causes and reme- 
dies of the problem. 

The request of the publishers for the opinions of 
those interested in the labor movement met with 
response of such a heterogeneous character, in 
which so many diverse views were expressed, that 
to determine on the best selection seemed well-nigh 
a hopeless task. 

Careful consideration; however, with the broad 
principle of justice to all as a guide, enabled me to 
choose such matter as will be approved by all un- 
prejudiced minds. My aim has been to avoid the Xe 


2 : i y o 
propaganda of anarchists and communists, and to No 





Prove ea: 


AUTHOR’S PREFACE, ; 1] 


present only the economics of trustworthy authors 
and those who have the elevation and improvement 
of the workingman sincerely at heart. 

In the preparation of the following pages I am 
especially indebted to many contributors, among 
whom are: 

Hon. Jesse Harprr, Danville, Ill. 

Atrrep Taytor, Ed. Sznriner, Birmingham, Ala. 

W. D. Vincent, Clay Center, Kan. 

Pror. J. W. Gaur, Monmouth, Il. 

J. R. Soverrien, Atlantic, Ia. 

How. Witu1am Baker, Newark, O. 

Joun Davis, Junction City, Kan. 

Henry Scuaipt, Ed. Lonaconine Review, Md. 

Cot. D. 8. Curtiss, Washington, D. C. 

AusBert Owen, Boston, Mass., Author of InrEaRaL 
Co-OPERATION. 

J. J. Woopatt, Hartselle, Ala. 

Hon. A. J. Streeter, New Windsor, Ill. 

R. F. Rowerr, Orrington, Me. 

Hon. Joun Serrz, Tiffin, O. 

S. M. Barpwiy, Washington, D. C. 

Hon. O. W. Barnarp, Manteno, Ill. 

N. M. Lovin, Muskogee, Ind. 

C. T. Parser, Douglasville, Ga. 

G. W. Picitipro, Geneseo, II], 


‘Dr. H J. Parxer, Clayton, Hl. 


O. J. Surroy, Akron, O; 
W. H. Ross, Creston, Ia, 


ill AUTHOR’S PREFACE, 


G. R. Wrirrams, Milan, Mich. 

W.W. Jonzs, Camargo, Ill. 

W. H. Davinson, Calera, Ala. 

Cuaries Sears, Williamsburg, Kan. 

Rh. C. McBratu, Bradsfordsville, Ky. 

D. W. Smirn, Lewiston, Me. 

N. B. Sracx, Birmingham, Ala. 

JAMES Mircneti, Ed. Forr Wayne Dispatcn, Ind. 
A. A. Beaton, Rockland, Me. 

Davip Ross, Oglesby, IIL. 

Hon. J. W. Breipentuat, Chetopa, Kan. 

Hon. Henry Smirx, Milwaukee, Wis. 

F, P. Sargeant, Terre Haute, Ind. 

G. W. Jonnson, Ed. Apvancr, Fond du Lac, Wis. 


And a number of others, whose valuable material 
has been unavailable because of limited space. 


S. M. J. 








ay — 
_— 
(— 


T. V. POWDERLY. 











CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I.—A GLANCE AT THE PAST. * 


THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE WORKINGMAN IN ENG- 


LISH HISTORY—-HIS POSITION-—PHYSICAL CONDITION 


7 —THE ‘‘BLACK DEATH”’—-THE PEASANTS’ WAR IN 
_ 1881—rnHE sTRUGGLES OF SERFDOM—THE WORKING- 


Pas MAN IN AMERICAN COLONIES—-THE SPIRIT OF LIBER- 


“ 


. 


TY—PROGRESS OF LABOR AFTER THE REVOLUTIONARY 
WAR—YEARS OF PEACE AND PLENTY—THE GREAT 
REBELLION—-THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING 
—TABLE OF WAGES FROM 1752 To 1886—rHE UP- 
RISING OF THE FARMERS—-THE GRANGE—RAPID IN- 
CREASE OF THE POWER OF CAPITAL—THE EVENTS OF 
1886—LABOR A POWERFUL SOCIAL FACTOR......15 


CHAPTER II.—LAND AND TAXES. 


LAND MONOPOLY THE BANE OF THE WORLD—ITS EFFECT 
. a) 


IN THE PAST—EGYPT’S DOWNFALL—-GOLDEN BABYLON 
CRUSHED BY LAND-OWNERS—THEY RUIN THE ROMAN 
EMPIRE—IMPROPER MANAGEMENT OF OUR PUBLIC DO- 
MAIN—VAST TRACTS OF VALUABLE LAND GIVEN TO 


* 
CORPORATIONS—-TWENTY MILLIONS OF ACRES HELD BY 


‘CHAPTER UI.—THE GREAT QUESTION OF. 


CONTENTS. 


FOREIGNERS—POWDERLY ON BONANZA FARMS—HENRY 
GEORGE’S THEORIES—HIS BOOK, ‘‘PROGRESS AND POY- 
ERTY’—HIS POSITION DEFINED—-THE UTOPIAN IDEA 


-OF CONFISCATION—-PROF. W. T. HARRIS ON GEOR- 


GEISM—-GROUND RENT—STATISTICS—CAPITAL’S GRIP 
AT THE THROAT OF LAND PROPERTY—TAX THE RICH 
AS WELL AS THE POOR—-HOW JUST ASSESSMENTS MAY 
BY MADE 2 cS gs. SUTRA Seb 


MONEY AND LABOR. 


THE PROBLEM WHICH ALL NATIONS ARE _ CONSID- 


w 


a 


CHAPTER IV. 


ERING——-WEALTH RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO THE PRO-~ 


DUCER—ECONOMISTS AND THE PRECIOUS METALS— 
CHARACTERISTICS OF MONEY——-MONETARY STANDARDS 
OF DIFFERENT NATIONS——-THE GOLD STANDARD—THE 
SILVER STANDARD—THE DOUBLE STANDARD—HIS- 
TORY OF BANKING—RISE OF THE NATIONAL BANKS 
—OPINIONS OF STATESMEN-—LABOR AND CAPITAL— 
THE WAGE FUND PRINCIPLE—-PROFITS AND WAGES— 
THE ATTITUDE OF LABOR—INFLATION OF CURRENCY 
—HON. ALFRED TAYLOR’S REMARKS—DANIEL WEB- 





STER ON LABOR——-MONEY THE GREAT HUMAN BLESS-__ 


ING——VOLUME OF MONEY—LINCOLN’S IDEAS—-HORACE 
GREELY—-BURKE—THE NEW ISSUES OF TO-DAY. ..45 


o 


GOVERNMENT LOANS TO 
THE PEOPLE. 





MAN SHALL EARN HIS BREAD BY THE SWEAT OF HIS 


BROW—INTEREST AND USURY—THE MOSAIC LAW— 
THE POWER OF INTEREST—ILLUSTRATIONS—LOANS TO 


* 


Ne 


> 


eee 


CONTENTS, ill 


THE PEOPLE A FEASIBLE PROJECT—THE GOVERNMENT 
Pd LOANS TO THE BANKERS—LOANS TO THE PEOPLE AT A 
LOW RATE WOULD BE A -BLESSING—-HOW THE FARM- 
ERS WOULD SECURE PROSPERITY—MILLIONAIRES AND 
PAUPERS ARE INCREASING——-REGULATION OF THE VOL- 
UME OF MONEY—GARFIELD’S THEORY—TOTAL NA- 
TIONAL DEBT—HYPOCRITICAL POLITICIANS—USURY 


NOTHING MORE THAN ROBBERY. .............-04 


CHAPTER V.—THE NATIONAL BANKING 
SYSTEM. 


THE MONETARY CHANGE DEMANDED BY WORKINGMEN— 
AIM OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR—SOULLESS CORPOR- 
ATIONS HAVE NO PITY—ATTITUDE OF BANKING COR- 
PORATIONS—‘‘ SPECIE BASIS ”’—‘* INTRINSIC VALUE” 
_—_‘‘ HONEST MONEY ”—-MONEY IN ANCIENT AGES— 
IRON, BRASS, TIN, CLOTH, LEATHER AND WOODEN 
MONEY—GREAT FINANCIERS ON METALIC MONEY— 
HOW THE NATIONAL BANKS ABSORB THE NATION’S 
- WEALTH—-DEBT THEIR FOUNDATION——HOW THE BANK- 
ERS SECURE DOUBLE INTEREST—ENORMOUS SUMS OF 
MONEY WITHDRAWN FROM JUST TAXATION—THE IM- 
MENSE EARNINGS OF THE INDIANAPOLIS NATIONAL 
BANK—WHAT WORKINGMEN SHOULD HAVE.......86 


CHAPTER VI—TRANSPORTATION. 


GOVERNMENT PREROGATIVES DANGEROUS IN THE HANDS 
OFr CORPORATIONS—NO ONE CLASS INDEPENDENT— 
CORPORATIONS NOT ENTITLED TO DISCRIMINATION—- 
THE COUNTRY SUFFERING FROM RAILROAD EXTOR- 


iv CONTENTS. 


TIONS—-WHAT THE BALLOT SHOULD ACCOMPLISH— 
THE TELEGRAPHS — TELEPHONES—RAILROADS—THE 
_/GOVERNMENT’S SUCCESS WITH THE POSTAL SYSTEM— 
"THE POWER OF SYNDICATES AND CORPORATIONS— 
THEIR IMMENSE WEALTH—DANIEL WEBSTER’S GREAT 
WARNINGS iioccn te Oh rks) fos ane ae ee 


CHAPTER VIL“ OVERPRODUCTION.” 


THERE CAN BE NO OVERPRODUCTION WHEN MONEY IS 
PLENTY—SCARCITY OF MONEY PRODUCES STRIKES AND 
RIOTS—WHY MONEY IS WITHDRAWN FROM CIRCULA- 
TION—-LINCOLN’S WARNING IN 1861—OVERPRODUCT- 
ION DOES NOT STARVE CHILDREN—INTEREST ON BONDS 
A GREAT VAMPIRE TO THE NATION—BONDS TAXED IN > 
ENGLAND AND FRANCE—GEN. WEAVER ON TAXATION 
—THE INTER-STATE COMMERCE LAW—-REPORT OF THE 
SILVER COMMISSIONERS —- PLAIN FACTS —- SHOWING 
MADE BY UNITED STATES TREASURER IN 1887 OF THE 
NATION'S MONEY——-IDLE CAPITAL MAKES IDLE MA- 
CHINERY AND THE WORKINGMAN SUFFERS......115 





CHAPTER VUI.—HARD TIMES. 


THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR AT RICHMOND—A COMMITTEE 
ON HARD TIMES—-THEIR REPORT-—THE INTRICACIES 
OF DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH—-AN ANALYSIS OF THE 
SUBJECT—SENATOR SHERMAN’S IDEAS IN 1869—JouN 
A. LOGAN’S THEORY—THE UNITED STATES TREASURER 
IN-1820—JOHN STUART MILL, THE GREAT ENGLISH 
ECONOMIST — SIR ARCHIBALD WILSON — SECRETARY 
M’CULLOCH — BOUTWELL — THE BURNING oF $100,- 


CONTENTS. Vi 


000,000—PETER COOPER ON INDUSTRIAL DEPRESSION 
—THE FLUCTUATION OF FINANCES THE CAUSE OF HARD 
TIMES—— A STEADY STANDARD A FIRM FOUNDA- 
(STOO erg RE Ste oad Se ott Rarer sana any aired 


CHAPTER IX.—HARD TIMES—Continvep. 


THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF SOCIETY—-MONEY EARNERS 
AND MONEY USERS — THE PREDATORY STRATUM — 
LAWS FOR THE CONTRACTION OF MONEY VOLUME— 
7 YEARS OF SHRINKAGE IN THE UNITED STATES—THE 
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY, LAND, LABOR, Fi- 
NANCE AND TRANSPORTATION — THE DECISION OF 
JUDGE GRESHAM IN THE WABASH, RAILROAD CASE— 
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR AN ORDER OF PEACE AND 
BDUOAIIO NG 2) Gets ai, Sue ea oo ate a eae L448 


CHAPTER X.—WAGKES. 


WAGES A SUBJECT OF VAST IMPORTANCE—GREAT NA- 
TIONS ARE NOW DEALING WITH IT—THE ECONOMICS 
OF WAGES — INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS INCESSANTLY 
CHANGE—A TABLE OF STATISTICS—THE PROGRESS OF 
WAGES—ECONOMY DOESNOT DEMAND LOW WAGES— 
WHAT HIGH WAGES WILL DO—HON. WILLIAM WALSH 
ON WAGES — INCREASE OF CAPITAL DEMANDS IN- 
CREASE OF LABOR—TO PROTECT LABOR A SACRED DU- 
TY——DR. PARKER ON REGULATION OF WAGES——CO-OP- 
ERATION THE ULTIMATUM OF PRODUCTIVE INDUS- 
PRY Ce a OS hee Se ee eat Oe OL 


vi CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XI.—ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 
OF TRADES UNIONS. 


THE DISCLOSURE OF HISTORY—-ANTIQUITY OF COMBINA- 
TIONS BY WORKINGMEN——THE OLD GUILDS OF EUROPE 
—THE FIRST AUTHENTIC ORGANIZATIONS—THE POW- 
ER OF ORGANIZATIONS SIX HUNDRED YEARS AGO— 
THE CRUELTIES PRACTICED IN ENGLAND——THE SECRET ~_ 
OF THEIR STRENGTH—UNIONS HAVE ELEVATED WAGES ~__ 

ie —WORKINGMEN CANNOT BE TOO WELL PAID—UNION 

te -MEN THE BEST WORKMEN—LITERATURE FOR LABOR— _ 

S UNIONS ARE EDUCATING WORKINGMEN—THEIR GREAT 


FUTURE ek a oe se ee 8 eae ae 


CHAPTER XIT.—AMERICAN LABOR UNIONS 


THE FIRST AMERICAN TRADE UNION — JOURNEYMEN 
SHIPWRIGHTS-—NEW YORK TYPOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 
_—FIRST LABOR PARTY—FRANKLIN SOCIETY OF PRINT- 
ERS—NATIONAL TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION—THE INTER- 
NATIONAL—-HAT FINISHERS—IRON MOULDERS—ME- 
CHANICAL ENGINEERS OF AMERICA—-BROTHERHOOD LO- 
COMOTIVE ENGINEERS—LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN—CIGAR 
MAKERS—BRICKLAYERS AND STONEMASONS—PATRONS 
OF HUSBANDRY—GRANGE—RAILWAY CONDUCTORS— 
BOOT AND SHOEMAKERS — GERMAN-AMERICAN TYPO- 
GRAPHICAL—-HORSE-SHOERS—IRON AND STEEL HEAT- 
ERS — GRANITE CUTTERS—— LAKE SEAMEN — BOILER 
MAKERS —-CARPENTERS AND JOINERS—-HAT MAKERS 
—— MINERS AND MINE LABORERS — BAKERS—SWITCH- 

MEN — TAILORS—TELEGRAPH MEN — FURNITURE— 
COOPERS—ETO.—ETO.. 2... cece ce we ce ee ce ee LOA 





CONTENTS. Vil 


CHAPTER XIII._—THE KNIGHTS OF 
LABOR. 


THE CAUSE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION—THE GREAT POW- 
ER OF THE ORDER—URIAH STEVENS, THE FOUNDER 
—EARLY HISTORY—STRUGGLES——ATTACKED BY PUL- 
PIT AND PRESS —ITS GROWTH — CHARACTER OF ITS 
MEMBERS— WHO THEY ARE— PRESENT NUMBER—A 
SEMI-SECRET ORDER — THEIR PREAMBLE AND PLAT- 
FORM OF PRINCIPLES — MANNER OF JOINING — WHO 
ARE ELIGIBLE —— LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE 
KNIGHTS—LOCAL, DISTRICT AND GENERAL ASSEMBLIES 
—~PASS-WORDS, SIGNS AND GRIPS——WOMEN AS MEM- 
BERS—INTERESTING INFORMATION —— BIOGRAPHY OF 
MR. POWDERLY—THE OFFICERS-—THE EXECUTIVE COM~ 
MITTEE——A DESCRIPTION OF THE MANAGEMENT. .195 


CHAPTER XIV.—STRIKES AND LOCK- 
OUTS. 


A CAUSE OF RECENT STRIKES —- WHY WORKINGMEN 
STRIKE—STATISTICS OF STRIKES IN 1880—succkEssEs 
AND FAILURES—COMPLETE REVIEW OF THEIR EFFECT 
—AMOUNT OF LOSS INCURRED — AGGREGATE LOSSES 
IN APRIL AND MAY, 1886 — PUn™IC SYMPATHY FOR 
STRIKERS—POWDERLY ON STRIKES—-GREAT THOUGHTS 
—THE POWER OF WEALTH GIVING WAY TO JUSTICE 
AND RIGHT —- A NEW POWER DAWNING UPON THE 
WORLD—A BRIGHT FUTURE AT HAND—IDEAS FOR 

_/ WORKINGMEN TO THINK AND ACT UPON. .......210 


Vill CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XV.—EIGHT HOURS. 


EFFECT OF THE EIGHT HOUR AGITATION—-NUMBER OF 
MEN IN THE MOVEMENT IN 1886 — THE BENEFITS —_ 
CLAIMED—LABOR NOT A COMMODITY—A BIRDS-EYE 
VIEW OF THE WORKING WORLD — THE AGENTS OF 
CORPORATIONS-—EXACTIONS ARE FETTERS—APPEALS 
AND MUTTERED DISCONTENT—A GREAT PLEA—THIRST 

»¥FOR KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE GRATIFIED—ROBERT G. 
INGERSOLL’S ELOQUENT WORDS ON THE SUBJECT— 
_HOURS OF LABOR SHOULD BE SHORTENED.......228 


CHAPTER XVI.—ARBITRATION. 


ARBITRATION NOT AN EXPERIMENT—THE JUSTINIAN LAW 
——-ENGLISH AND ROMAN LAW—JUDICIAL BOARDS OF 
ARBITRATION—PRESIDENT CLEVELAND’S MESSAGE ON 
THE QUESTION — RICHARD GRIFFITHS, G. W. F., ON 
ARBITRATION—-GEORGE RODGERS —- FRENCH COURTS 
OF ARBITRATION —- HOW THE GREAT BRICKLAYERS’ 
STRIKE IN CHICAGO WAS SETTLED——JUDGE TULEY’S 
DECISION—ARBITRATION JUST FOR EMPLOYER AND 
WORKINGMEN—THE SCALES OF JUSTICE A TRUE BAL- 
ANGE ro ht See Ne ite tne ore ee Oe a 


; CHAPTER XVII.—CO-OPERATION. 

| ALL GREAT ENTERPRISES DEPEND ON CO-OPERATION— 
A COMMON OBJECT IS A COMMON ADVANTAGE—OR- 
GANIZATION AND CO-OPERATION A GREAT POWER— 





CONTENTS. 1x 

_e WAGE SYSTEM OPPOSED TO CO-OPERATION—CO-OPER- 
ATION A SUCCESS—LECLAIRE’S GREAT ORGANIZATION 
—RAILROAD CQ-OPERATION IN FRANCE—INDUSTRIAL 
PARTNERSHIP IN ENGLAND—-ALFRED TAYLOR ON THE 
SUBJECT—D. 8. CURTISS—-DEVELOPMENT AND EXTENT 
OF CO-OPERATION IN THE UNITED STATES—COMPLETE 
REVIEW OF WHAT HAS BEEN DONE......:.....203 


CHAPTER XVIII.—HOME THE PALLADIUM 
OF SOCIETY. 

MAN WITHOUT A HOME AN OUTCAST—THE STATE IS BUT 
THE INDIVIDUAL, THE INDIVIDUAL A MINIATURE STATE 
—HOME THE BULWARK OF VIRTUE—CICERO’S MAXIM 

+—DEFECTS OF OUR SOCIAL SYSTEM—THE BURDEN OF 
INDIRECT TAXATION—HANDWRITING ON THE WALL— 
CO-OPERATION A BLESSING FOR THE PEOPLE—SUCCESS 
OF CORPORATIONS — ‘*‘ SWEET HOME” CAN BE MADE 
A REALITY-——WISDOM FOR THE HOMELESS......274 


CHAPTER XIX.—PRISON LABOR. 


A GREAT QUESTION—-HOW CONVICTS ARE EMPLOYED— 
OCCUPATIONS IN VARIOUS PRISONS —- WORKING FOR 

THE STATE — THE CONTRACT SYSTEM — THE LEASE 
PLAN—E. C. WINES ON THE CONTRACT SYSTEM—ITS 
EFFECT—ABUSES—-SHOULD BE ABOLISHED —-LEASES 

AND FAULTS THEREOF—57,500 CONVICT WORKMEN 

_ PITTED AGAINST HONEST LABOR — DR. SEAMAN’S 
VIEWS —- DEMANDS OF THE PUBLIC — CARROLL D. 
WRIGHT'S REPORT—PRISON LABOR MUST NOT CON- 
__ FLICT WITH INTERESTS OF THE WORKINGMAN. . . 290 


2 


x CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XX.--LIQUOR AND THE WORK- 
INGMAN. 


THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY EXPENDED FOR LI- 
QUOR—-MR. POWDERLY ARRAIGNS THE DRUNKARD— 
HIS POWERFUL SPEECH AT LYNN, MASS.-—HOW LIQUOR 
PRODUCES POVERTY—FIFTEEN MILLION PEOPLE SPEND 
SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY FOR 
LIQUOR—LIQUOR COSTS THE PEOPLE THREE TIMES AS 
MUCH AS CLOTHING—INTEMPERANCE A CURSE TO THE 
WORKINGMAN SS a5 aia otnss-eicewunlone bata a aioe otan pesos cea 


CHAPTER XXI.—THE FARMER AND HIS 
INTERESTS. 


GAPITAL DRIFTING AW/.Y FROM AGRICULTURE —- THE 
LABOR QUESTION LINKED WITH THE FARMER — HON. 
“ W. F. SADLER BEFORE THE GRANGE — AN ABLE DIs- 
COURSE — A STARTLING ARRAY OF FACTS AND FIG- 
URES—THE AVARICE OF CAPITAL—MR. JOHN NORRIS 
ON RAILROAD MONOPOLY —- CHARLES SEARS’ MEAS- 
URES—A BALEFUL WARNING—MR. CHARLES SEARS’ 
EXPOSITION OF TRUTHS — PUBLIO CARRIERS AND 
MONEY. LOANERS ARE ABSORBING CAPITAL—A PEACE- 
FUL MODE OF ADJUSTMENT—-MEASURES AND REME- 
DIES—UNITED EFFORT BY REFORM PARTIES NEC- 


ESSARY 10 SUCCESS—-LABOR ASCENDING THE THRONE ~ 


OB POLITION (3.0 Nae ae asi eae Ree ae aceon 





| 


CONTENTS. Xl 


CHAPTER XXII.—FOREIGNERS AND FOR- 
EIGNERS. 

THE IMMIGRATION OF TO-DAY A GREAT EVIL—500,000 
IMMIGRANTS IN 1887—oOFFICIAL FIGURES—OVER 
8,000,000 ALIENS IN THIS COUNTRY—A FLOOD OF 
PAUPERS AND CRIMINALS TAINTING THE NATION— 
H. H. BOYESEN ON UNRESTRICTED IMMIGRATION—THE 

{ EVIL OF ANARCHY AND COMMUNISM ONE OF THE 

| CURSES OF THE FOULSTREAM—SUMMARY LEGISLATION 
A JUST DEMAND OF WORKINGMEN — AMERICAN LA- 


BOR MENACED BY FOREIGN IMMIGRATION —— HOSTILE 
' SENTIMENT THROUGHOUT THE LAND—A QUESTION OF 
TRE DA Ve oh eh rene eG A hee ek he ae eee 


| CHAPTER XXIII.—THOUGHTS OF TO-DAY. 


HON. JOHN SEITZ—-LABOR ENTITLED TO FIRST CONSID- 
ERATION—OPINIONS OF R. F. ROWELL—HON. GEORGE 
L. WELLINGTON—HON. JESSE HARPER — HON. 0. W. 
BARNARD —H. E. BALDWIN——HON. ALF. TAYLOR—N. 
M. LOVIN— C. B. FENTON-—O. T. PARKER—REV. DR. 
THOMAS — G. W. PHILLIPPO — 0. J. SUTTON—W. H. 
ROBB—J. D. HARDY—W. W. JONES-—-COM. MINERS 
AND MINE LABORERS-—W. H. DAVIDSON—R. ©. MO- 
BEATH—D. W. SMITH—N. B. STACK—-HON. WILLIAM 
BAKER—JAMES MITCHELL—HON. A. J. STREETER— 
THE notorious HAZARD CIRCULAR~— a. a. 
BR TON Sy as ee oes Vee Be Ea OOe 


CHAPTER XXIV.—SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 


VIEWS OF DAVID ROSS—THE MAGNITUDE OF THE LABOR 
PROBLEM—OUT OF AGITATION COME MANY BENEFITS ._ 


Xil CONTENTS. 


——EDUCATION IS REQUIRED FOR ADVANCEMENT—THE 
MASSES ARE THINKING——REFORM PARTIES——. UNION 


LABOR PARTY IN THE VAN—ORGANIZATION THE ... 


WATCHWORD —HON. J. W. BREIDENTHAL——BRIGHT 
PROSPECTS WEST, NORTH, SOUTH AND EAST—-LABOR 
IN POLITICS——-WITH ORGANIZATION AND COMMON PUR- 
POSE SUCCESS IS CERTAIN—-A PLATFORM BROAD 
ENOUGH FOR ALL IS NEEDED——HON. HENRY SMITH— 
FUTURE OF THE WORKINGMAN—CONCLUSION....358 


CHAPTER XXV.— THE FARMERS’ AL- 
LIANCE. 
EARLY STRUGGLES OF THE FARMERS’ ALLIANCE — ITS 


RULES —— ITS PROGRESS —- ADVANTAGES OF CO-OPER- 
ATION —— THE TEXAS CHARTER — THE NATIONAL AL- 


LIANCE — PREAMBLE — EDUCATION FUNDAMENTAL”. 


TO GOOD GOVERNMENT — BUSINESS MATTERS —- POL- 
ITICAL MATTERS —- GENERAL REMARKS -— WOMEN OF 
THE-ALLIANOMG 2 8 op ce Ss Sule, See ete 


ALLUSIRATIONS. 


T. V. PowpeErty, - a ‘ 
Ricuarp GRIFFITHS, - 2 
FREDERICK TURNER, - : 
Cuaries H. Lircuman, - 
Hon. W. D. Vincent, - : 
Hon. Henry Smirn, - 2 
J. R. Sovernien, - : 
Hon. WititiAm Baker, - 
A Miner’s Corracs, - : 
Happy Toiters, ‘ z 
Coan Unprer Dirrerent AspPrcrts, 
Honest Tom Maxzs a SprEcu, 
Urian SrEePHENS, = . 
Brerween Strike ann Famuiy, 
Locomotive Works, : “ 
BRICKLAYING, : : 


Kyire, Fork anp Spoon Workers, 


A Happy Hom, - - 


FRONTISPIECE. 


37 


X1V ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Mipnient Firres—Buast Furnaces, 
Hay Maxine mn tHE Otprn Times, 
Bottte Bowers, - - 
Hon. Joun Seitz, - - 

BrsseEMER STEEL Manuractory,  - 


Minine in Cotorano, - 2 


THE 


VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER I. 


A GLANCE AT THE PAST. 


THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE WORKINGMAN IN ENG- 
LISH HISTORY——HIS POSITION-—PHYSICAL CONDITION 
—THE ‘‘BLACK DEATH”’—THE PEASANTS’ WAR IN 
1381—THE STRUGGLES OF SERFDOM—THE WORKING- 
MAN IN AMERICAN COLONIES—THE SPIRIT OF LIBER- 
TY——PROGRESS OF LABOR AFTER THE REVOLUTIONARY 
WAR—YEARS OF PEACE AND PLENTY—-THE GREAT 
REBELLION—-THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING 
—TABLE OF WAGES FROM 1752 To 1886—THE UpP- 
RISING OF THE FARMERS—THE GRANGE—RAPID IN- 
CREASE OF THE POWER OF CAPITAL—THB HVENTS OF 
1886—-LABOR A POWERFUL SOCIAL FACTOR. | 


Tue workingman first appears in English history 
in the character of a serf, or slave. He owned 
neither land, cattle, nor goods, but was wholly de- 
pendent upon his lord, who furnished him with shel- 
ter, food and clothing, and in return was entitled to 

his services and was responsible for his conduct. 


16 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


He belonged to the estate, and if the land changed 
ownership, he followed it and served under the new 
lord. He had no civil rights,neither for or against any 
one, save through the lord of the manor. His 
physical condition was one of comparative ease and 
plenty, as he was well fed and housed. When not 
working for his lord he was at liberty to cultivate — 
his garden, gather fuel from. the manor forest and 
devote his time to his family. 

This condition was not absolute, for he might ac- 
cumulate alittle money, purchase a piece of land and 
thus free himself. If he was able to masteratrade, 
as a mechanic he received higher pay than a serf, 
but in other respects he stood on the same footing. 
In towns and cities he had no civil rights until he 
acquired property and entered the guild of his craft. 
He then could set up on his own account and em- 
ploy journeymen and hold apprentices. By custom 
and law he was held to be a man of an inferior 
caste, and the unfortunate stigma has followed him 
down through the centuries. 

Atthis time the capitalist, or lord, was not actuated 
_ by hostile feelings, nor did he in any way seek to 
oppress him, but as the serf was virtually his prop-— 
erty he protected him for the sole purpose of avoid- 
ing his loss. Wages was a pretext for a quarrel at 
any time, just as it is to-day. 

In 1349 aterrible plague swept over Europe from 
the orient, and in England its devastation was hor- 
rible. -The ‘‘ Black Death” marked the era of free- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 17 


dom for the serf. Nearly one-half of the entire pop- 
ulation was swept away, and labor assumed the phase 
of being the most important element in the king- 
dom. Laborers demanded quadruple pay and dic- 
tated their own terms. The historic ‘Statute of 
Laborers” was passed, and then began the antago- 
nism between capital and labor. 

In 1881 the Peasants’ war broke out and the in- 
surgents captured the city of London. They de- 
manded of the king: ‘‘We will that you make us 
free, our heirs and our lands, and that we be no 
more bond, nor so reputed.” The king promised 
them freedom, but when parliament met it sternly 


__tefused to fulfillthe promise. In an unanimous vote 


they declared ‘they would rather perish altogether 
in one day.” ‘The strife continued and coercive 
laws were constantly passed. The laborer was for- 
bidden to leave his place or travel without a pass- 
port, and in 1391 parliament was petitioned to for- 


bid. the children of the base-born to attend the 


schools. The land-owners finally gave up the at- 
tempt to employ serf labor, and rented small farms 
to tenants for a fixed rent to be paid inmoney. At 


the end of fifty years serfdom was a thing of the 


past, and the wiuces which had been passed for the 
regulation of wages became obsolete. 
The wages of workmen soon became more than 


enough for acomfortable support, and his day of work 


was eight hours. With the close of the reign of Henry 
VIII, after a period of about one hundred and fifty 


18 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


years, legislation again oppressed him, and for two 
hundred and fifty years he struggled against laws 
which tended only to the interests of the rich. An 
extravagant royalty swallowed millions of money, 
and the prosperous workman became a beggar with 
a starving family. In 1601 the English Poor Law, 
was passed, but it failed to accomplish a benevolent 
end. 

Meanwhile the discovery of America had electri- 
fied the old world, and settlements were made here. 
During one hundred and twenty-five years follow- 
ing the discovery of America in 1492, the territory 
of the Atlantic states and the West Indies were in- 
fested by adventurers. Their purposes were the 
gathering of the precious metals, trading with the 
natives for furs, and the locating of fishing banks 
from which food might be obtained for Europe. The 
Basques, from France, and other Celtic nations, vis- 
ited the banks of Newfoundland to fish, several hun- 
dred years before the time of Columbus. 

In 1607, Jamestown, Virginia, was occupied by 
the English, and developed into a permanent settle- 
ment in 1610. Colony after colony secured foot- 
holds on the Hudson, along the coast of New Eng- 
land, and in what are now the Atlantic states. Re- 
ligious and political oppression in Europe stimulated 
the tide of emigration, and the new world began to 
live. Up to this time actual industrial settlements 
had not materialized. The classof people who first 
came to America were those who sought gold, or — 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 19 


conquest, and the majority of them were banished 


/ criminals. Later during the seventeenth century, 


people of a different stamp were driven to seek a 
new homeacross the Atlantic, and the colonists gain- 
ed a new element of thoughtful and religious cast. 

The French and Indian war came and passed, 
leaving the Virginian colonists aware of the weak- 
ness of English troops in the peculiar warfare inci- 
dent to the border, and the feeling was prevalent 
that the colonial Assembly was composed of strong 
_. and fearless men. The colonists although loyal, 
desired to conduct their affairs in their own way. 
Conscious of their strength they felt their own im- 
portance and were quick to resent any acts of inter- 
ference on the part of the mother country. Parlia- 
ment sought to maintain a standing army, to en- 
force certain navigation laws and to tax the colo- 
nists to contribute to the financial burdens of the 
empire. The execution of these laws in the way of 
the stamp act, and other revenue laws, led to the un- 
ion of the scattered colonies, resistance to England, 
to war and to the successful upholding of the 
Declaration of Independence. In: this country 
the white workman has never been subjected to 
the hardships and deprivations which disgrace the 
pages of England’s history, but has always been po- 
litically the peer-of any one. Land was free to all 
and it rested upon himself whether he occupied and 
made use of it for his support. He quickly learned 
to rely upon his own efforts and grew self-reliant and 


20) THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


independent with the exercise of his natural rights. 
Unhampered by the fetters of conscienceless legis- 
lation, and with the pride and knowledge which is 
inseparable from full citizenship, the workingman de- 
veloped the germ of American independence, and 
the spirit which prompted the determination to throw | 
off the English yoke was given birth. 

The colonial era laid out the plan of the Ameri- 
can land system, which began with royal claims, and 
ended with speculation and actual conquest. The 
chief feature of the land polity seemed to be, that 
each man strove to get as much land as he could, 
and if he chose to retain his possessions, his family 
should inherit it. Tenure was based upon privilege ~ 
and human rights were a secondary consideration, 
yet the spirit of liberty was strong, and the system 
did not take on the Old World form of primogeni- 
ture. In England the feudal land-owners struggled 
with the chattel-holders, and their differences were 
carried to the colonies. It was from these materi- * 
als that American tenure was molded. 

Had no aristocracy existed in England slavery — 
would not have been introduced in America. Indi- 
gent dependents of aristocracy sought riches, and 
being unwilling to work themselves, and unable to 
employ free labor, they took the negro. Labor was 
wofully scarce, and as the expense of securing it 
from England was great, the natural consequence 
was the cheaper course of importation of slaves. 
Slavery, however, did not materially interfere with 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 91 


/ free labor in other than the cotton, cane and tobacco 


Penni 


districts, and never secured noticeable foothold north 
of the Ohio river. 

After the close of the Revolutionary war still a \ 
better class of people came from Europe who brought 
with them the pioneer spirit which has always mark- 
ed American enterprise. Statistics show that the 
wages of the workingman began an upward tendency 
and his welfare made decided progress. The dis- 
counted Continental money was replaced bya valu- 


- able circulating medium, and financial confidence 


was resumed. As late_as 1780 labor was not organ- 
ized, nor at that time was organization demanded. 
The undeveloped resources of the vast area of till- 
able land, at no great distance from the seaboard, 
continually drew the surplus population from the 
growing cities and towns, and high wages was the 
natural result. The farm constituted an admirable 
regulator from a wages point of view. The tide of 
immigration steadily flowed on toward the great 
western prairies, the valleys west of the Alleghanies 
became thickly settled, and the workingman pros- 
pered everywhere. 

Amid this era of peace two irreconcilable theories 
of government clashed, and the great war of the 
rebellion began. While the fierce contest was in 
progress, hundreds of thousands of men were taken 
away from the factories, the farms, and from all 
kinds of business. The armies drained the country 
of its labor, and the inevitable sequence was that 


92, THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


wages fluctuated with each succeeding day. At the 
_ close of the war labor prospered. In 1866 over six 
hundred millions worth of public lands were sold, 
and a large part of our population was engaged in 
preparing for substantial prosperity. A protective 
tariff gave an immense impetus to manufacturing 
industries, and in the eastern states their develop- 
ment was remarkable. The eastern states not hay- 
ing the fertility of soil found in the west, capital in- 
stinctively gravitated toward profitable manufactur- 
ing, and soon found mechanical industry, backed by 
tariff, to be the most reliable and satisfactory of in- 
vestments. Farm life in New England gave way to 
life in the factory, and we now see our Atlantic sea- 
board transformed from an agricultural into that of 
a manufacturing region. This method of centralizing 
capital has in a great measure taken labor from the 
farm to the workshop, and a constant premium has 
been offered to the mechanic. To this fact may be 
attributed the prodigious growth of cities during the 
past twenty-five years, and it is especially noticea- 
ble in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. 
Everywhere it may be seen that the planting of a 
factory, or mill, is followed by the erection of a 
cluster of houses which grows into a\ ‘ce, then 
a town is formed, and the town finally becomes a 
city. 
High pay to workingmen surely follows the 
_ growth of cities. Since 1752 the mechanic’s pay 
"has increased from thirty-three cents per day tc one 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 93 


dollar and forty-five’ cents per day, but the farm 
worker has always been paid at a lower rate. An 


- . examination of the following table will give the 


reader a good idea of the fluctuation of the prices 
paid during the last one hundred and thirty-four 
years: 


Farmwork Mechanical Farmwork Mechanical 
Year. Wages. Wages. Year. Wages. Wages. 

LTO 2s Sb aoe Be. O8 1845....$1.00 $1.25 
TOO FS 5 88 48 TEO0 ste 41 067821750 
NICE Ste amines: .35d ROE ket 1.33 
IBIAS OWS oT Sa ts .o4 SOs hd DS toe 1BO 
dria Was ae ge 46 Si rs LUO seb: BD 
EQ UU aoe 40 1 iS beg civ eee ee kee 
dy oh WM Etc oes () .61 USOC eee y OUre Tk 2) 
SES ea tO Sern 1) LORS ee OD 180) 
peewee 4 yo A TOO ESSO5 Soo 0G. 145 
Re otiaconer as hey. vob OO) 


The foregoing tabulated statement unerringly ~ 
shows the effect of the investment of capital upon 
the rate of wages paid in cities, and lays open’ the 
secret of their constant increase in population. 
There are now thirty-six cities in the United States 
with inhabitants numbering over fifty thousand. 

One great result of the civil war was to bring free 
labor to its present condition and rate of wages, 
by doing away with the antagonism incident upon 
cheap slave labor. It was first thought the South 
was hopelessly involved in ruin, but the contrary 
has proved true, and that region is securing larger 


94. THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


returns to-day for the amount of capital invested 

than it did under the control of wasteful and brutal 

overseers. The period following the war was one 

of excessive inflation. The greenback dollar reach- 

ed its lowest value in 1864, at which time a gold 
dollar could be sold for $2.85 in paper, but it grad- 

ually ascended in value, and in 1879 it reached pa-, 

and since has been worth a dollar in gold, throug” 
the resumption of specie payment. 

In.1866 the Granger movement began, 221 © 
for its object the financial benefit of the farm-2. 7”. 
combatted the monopolies of railroads and co."4:..~ 
tions, and so popular was this agitation that in 
1875 the order had nearly 800,000 members. The 
rapid increase of the power of capital in America 
is without parallel in any other country in the 
world, and the manner in which gigantic syndicates 
and railroad corporations have pursued their objects 
has been watched with much solicitude by the farm- 
ers, workingmen, and others, whose interests have 
been prejudiced. The fact that an enormous amount 
of money, gained by dishonest financiering, has 
been invested in transportation industries, and as — 
the earnings of this vast amount of capital finally 
come upon the workingman and farmer to pay, 
they have become dissatisfied. Watered stock and 
jobbing pools have created a burden under which 
the bone and sinew of the nation are restive, and 
they have combined against it, as was evinced by 
the events of 1886, in the great southwestern strike 


- 


THE VOICE OF LABUK. 25 


on the Gould system of railroads. The Knights of 
Labor have been rapidly perfecting their organiza- 
tion throughout the United States, and as the order 
is seeking redress of grievances by means of legis- 
lation, the outlook is that they will act as a power- 
ful factor in shaping the industrial welfare of the 
country during the next few years. 


3 


26 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER II. 


LAND AND TAXKS. 


LAND MONOPOLY THE BANE OF THE WORLD—ITS EFFEC} 
IN THE PAST—EGYPT’S DOWNFALL—-GOLDEN BABYLON 
CRUSHED BY LAND-OWNERS—THEY RUIN THE ROMAN 
EMPIRE—IMPROPER MANAGEMENT OF OUR PUBLIC DO- 
MAIN—VAST TRACTS OF VALUABLE LAND GIVEN TO 
CORPORATIONS—-TWENTY MILLIONS OF ACRES HELD BY 
FOREIGNERS—POWDERLY ON BONANZA FARMS—-HENRY 
GEORGE’S THEORIES—HIS BOOK, ‘‘PROGRESS AND POY- 
ERTY”—-HIS POSITION DEFINED—THE UTOPIAN IDEA 
OF CONFISCATION—PROF. W. T. HARRIS ON GEOR- 
GEISM—GROUND RENT—STATISTICS—CAPITAL’S GRIP 
AT THE THROAT OF LAND PROPERTY—TAX THE RICH 
AS WELL AS THE POOR—HOW JUST ASSESSMENTS MAY 
BE MADE. 

Tue right to the soil is as much an inalienable 
right as that of working for bread. Depriving a 
man of either, is a violation of both moral and sec- 
ular laws. Land monopoly is shown by history to 
be the bane of the world. Great nations have risen, 
ruled and fallen, and in each instance the lesson has 
been taught, that when such burdens have been laid 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 27 


upon the masses, and were deprived from earn- 
ing bread from the soil, their doom was sealed. 

Back in the dim distance of time we see Egypt 
the proudest and most powerful nation on the globe. 
She excelled in mighty undertakings, and to-day we 
marvel at the ruins of her vast structures which have 
withstood the crumbling touches of scores of cen- 
turies. : 

The great pyramid of Gizeh is the grandest mon- 
ument of human history, the mightiest building on 
earth and the oldest—in structure a miracle, in ex- 
tent almost incomprehensible. Forty centuries have 
looked upon its glittering sides, and the tooth of 
time during all these rolling centuries has not been 
able to eat away the grandeur of the pile. 

An oppressive land monopoly rule worked the 
fall of Egypt. One per cent of the people owned 
all the land, and ninety-nine per cent of the people 
owned none—were tenants, serfs and slaves. Then 
Egypt died, and her death-dirge rings yet in the ear 
of the world. 

The golden glory of Babylon, with its city the 
most magnificent man ever built, was cursed with a 
class land monopoly which was its death warrant. 
Two per cent of the people owned all the land, and 
ninety-six per cent of the masses owned none, and 
were tenants, slaves and serfs. 

In a speech recently delivered by Hon. Jesse 
Harper, he said: 

‘‘The founding, growth and glory of the Roman 


98 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


empire has been the wonder of the world. Begotten 
in myth, fed upon the ferocity of the wolf, led by 
intellect of man, she grew to be at last the palladium 
of law and the legionry war. Her ‘Twelve Tables’ 
underlie the codes of all civilization to-day. Her 
military prowess has been the admiration of man- 
kind. Her works in every department of human 
thought and action are unsurpassed. Acqueduct, 
temple, forum, each stand unparalleled. Theater, 
hippodrome, drama—in these she leads all. 

‘‘Rome has been termed ‘The Eternal City.” From 
that center has gone forth blandishments, political 
chicanery, ecclesiastical Jesuitism, and they for ages 
upon ages have ruled the world. 

‘‘Rome in her highest glory, was simple in habit 
and austere inmanner. There was but a slight dis- 
tinction between the people. ‘Citizen’ was the name 
of man. Equality of fortune, generous distribution 
of land was the law of common consent, and the 
legal enactments of the state also. 

~ ‘So rich in achievement was she at one time, that 
eighty-five per cent of the people had title in land. 
Then the legions were heroes beyond conquering; 
then Rome was founded on a rock. She but follow- 
ed the course of the great empires which had pre- 
ceded her. In the incipiency of them all justice 
ruled and mercy reigned more largely than at any 
other period of their life. But as the nations before 
her turned from those true principles of equity and 
justice, in the day of their degeneracy, so did Rome 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 29 


She traveled the same road to the same death, to 
certain destruction. In what way? 

‘Her volume of money at the commencement of 
this era was about $1,800,000,000, made up of brass, 
copper, and other metals. This was doomed to de- 
struction. She determined to shrink the volume and 
make the lesser volume of a finer metal. So she 
shrunk the volume to $200,000,000. <A long time 
was consumed in doing it, but the road was passed 
over, the goal reached. 

“The fatal effect upon the empire came at 
last; and Rome fell by reason of this very shrink- 
ing of the volume of money. The lands passed out 
of the hands of the people into the hands of the few 
millionaires, so that when death’s great ford was. 
reached, where civilization was to die, we see that 
two thousand people owned all the land in the Ro- 
man empire. Less than one per cent of the people 
owned all, and more than ninety-nine per cent owned 
none.” 

Land monopoly, a shrinking volume of money 
and class legislation made up the decree of national 
dissolution. History chronicles a repetition of such 
events, but there lies in experience an opportunity 
to avert them in the future. 

During the past two decades there has been no 
proper management of public lands, but our national 
legislators have actually given away to corporations, 
in a spirit of prodigality without parallel in the 
world’s history, more land than is contained in 


30 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


the states of Illinois, lowa, Ohio and Michigan com- 
bined. Only a few years ago the line of states- 
men now retiring, gave to one corporation in Amer- 
ica forty-eight millions of acres of land. 
There is, in the state of Lowa, but thirty-five mill- 
ions of acres; in the state of Illinois but thirty-six 
millions of acres. And yet, there was given to one 
corporation forty-eight millions of acres of land. 
And that, too, in the face of the fact that within a 
score of years we will have on this continent one 
hundred millions of human beings. We have sixty 
millions now; we will have a hundred millions 
then. 
The tendency has been to throw large estates in- 
to the hands of a few people, and to dispossess the 
poor, the small land owners of the country. 
Millions of acres comprising the best agricultural 
land on the earth have been thus disposed of, until 
there is over twenty millions of acres held by foreign 
capitalists. Jreland’s pitiful condition to-day was 
brought about by a similar course of events. 
General Master Workman Powderly says: ‘In 
the United States, although scarcely out of its 
squatting era, we already have an incipient land- 
holding aristocracy, which is by no means confined 
tothe bonanza farms of the west, where work is toa 
great extent done by machinery and a horde of tramp 
agricultural laborers. There are in-this country over 
~ one million five hundred thousand of capitalists, or 
speculating owners, who have their farms tilled by 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. ma 


hired workers. Nearly one hundred thousand of these 
land barons hold from five hundred to thous- 
ands of acres each. We have one million ten- 
ant renters, almost as many as there are in Great 
Britain, cultivating one-fourth of our farms, and 
three million three hundred and twenty four odd 
thousand wage workers who do not even rent land. 
Of the one million five hundred thousand of real 
farmers who either wholly, or in part, themselves cul- 
tivate their holdings, it is estimated that forty per 
cent have their farms mortgaged to such an extent 
as to really pay a rentin interest. In many indus- 
iries we already have asystem of pooling and com- 
bination to which the much-denounced union tyran- 
ny and that of the terrible walking delegate can not 
hold a candle. Until lately, in all but a few, even 
the best organized workers could hardly counteract 
the terror of the ticket-of-leave-plan, by virtue of 
which it was impossible for the blacklisted unfortu- 
nate to obtain employment.” 

Among the numerous writers on the land question, 
Mr. Henry George has attracted much attention. In 
his admirably written book, ‘‘ Progress and Pover- 
ty,” he has endeavored to show that the great cause 
of the inequality in the distribution of wealth lies in 
the unequal ownership of land. In all probability 
_Mr. George wrote his book between the years of 
1873 and 1879,when he saw the evil results of over- 
importations together with a contraction of our cur- 
rency. Unfortunately he erred in divining the 


o2 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


causes of the country’s depression and thereby erred 
in the remedy he advocates. There can be no doubt 
that ruin will throttle the nation if our broad acres 
fall into the hands of a few landlords, but that time 
will never come. Even though certain speculators 
and corporations have succeeded in securing an ille- 
gal right to vast acres of land, there is no danger 
o their being able to work other than local incon- 
venience. 

He asks, ‘‘Why, in spite of increase in produc- 
tive power, do wages tend to a minimum which will 
give but a bare living?” The question is an idle 
one, for wages, salaries and remuneration of all kinds 
have steadily risen, notwithstanding fluctuations. 
At the end of each decade during the past century 
there has been more and more to divide—that is, 
when no temporary causes overcame the general 
cause of financial events. Wages do not tend to a 
minimum but we find them generally on the in- 
crease, and to his proposition that ‘‘ where popula- 
tion is densest, wealth greatest, and the machinery 
of: production and exchange most highly develop- 
ed,” we say there is not ‘‘the deepest poverty, the 
sharpest struggle for existence and the most enfore- 
ed idleness.” This is clear the moment we com- 
pare the workingman of fifty years ago, with the 
workingman of to-day. 

One of the essential ideas of the Georgian theory 
is, that in as much ‘as in the nature of things un- 
equal ownership of land is inseparable from the re- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. a 


cognition of individual property in land, it necessa- 
rily follows that the only remedy for the unjust dis- 
tribution of wealth is in making land common prop- 
erty.” 

Mr. George proposes to tax land to its full rental 
value, and defines his position as follows: 

‘Let me declare plainly and distinctly, for this is 
a point on which there is much misapprehension 
and misrepresentation, that we do not propose to 
have the state take the land from its present owners 
and divide it up or rent it out; we simply propose 
to make such a change in our fiscal system as will 
shift the burden of taxation from labor and the pro- 
ducts of labor, to land values—the value attached 
to land, irrespective of the improvements upon it; 
the value attached to land, not by reason of what 
the occupier has done, but by reasons of the growth 
of the community. We propose to reach by this 
easy and gradual change, the end at which we aim, 
and that aim is, that the man who enjoys the privi- 
lege of holding a piece of land that the growth of 
the community has made valuable, shall pay to the 
community what the special privilege is worth, and 
thus all citizens be placed upon an equal footing. 
When this is done, or even as we approach it, it 
will become unprofitable for anybody to hold land 
without using it, in the expectation of becoming rich 
by the value which attaches to it from the growth 
of the community. Land will become profitable 
only to those who want to use it. Thus the dog in 


ot 


34 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


the manger will be choked off, and from the vacant 
lots of our eastern cities to the great tracts held on 
speculation in the far west, opportunities for employ- 
ment will be thrown open to labor and forestalling 
be prevented.” 

The Utopian idea of confiscating or nationalizing 
land, is shown in its true light by Prof. W. T. Harris, 
who exposes the sophistry of this Georgian theory, 
and demonstrates that the claims concerning the 
advantage to be gained by taxing land eee 
are false and hollow. He says: 

‘‘Mr. George evidently supposes that a revenue 
equal to the total land-rent of the country would con- 
stitute a vast fund, for he says: ‘There would be 
a great and increasing surplus revenue from the tax- 
ation of land values, for material progress, which 
would go on with greatly accelerated rapidity, would 
tend constantly to increase rent. This revenue aris- 
ing from the common property could be applied to 
the common benefit, as were the revenues of Sparta. ’ 

‘‘Mr. George is bound to suppose that the ag- 
gregate amount of ground-rent is avery large sum, 
because he has come to the conclusion that land ab- 
sorbs, in the form of rent, all the increased produc- 
tion of labor, aided by capital in the shape of labor- 
saving inventions. If ground-rent produces pover- 
ty, by robbing capital and labor, its confiscation 
would restore enough to labor and capital to remedy 
the evil. What is the actual amount of this item of 
rent in the United States ? 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 35 


‘The reader of ‘Progress and Poverty’ is struck 
with the fact that the book contains no statements 
derived from painstaking inquiries into the statistics 
of land values and rents. The book is eloquent and 
effective, its author evidently an earnest and disin- 
terested philanthropist. But his theories all relate 
to numbers of population, rates of wages, prices of 
food, anounts of rent, and the ratios of these num- 
bers to one another. These are not a priori ques- 
tions, but matters of statistics. There is not only 
no investigation of statistics in ‘ Progress and Pov- 
erty,’ but there is not even an attempt to make 
definite estimates, although there are occasional re- 
ferences to isolated data. If it should be found 
that the total ground-rent is an insignificant item 
compared with the total income of the nation, it 
would be necessary to conclude that Mr. George is 
mistaken in supposing that private property in land 
exercises a power to rob capital and labor. 

‘‘The United States census for 1880 gives the to- 
tal assessment. of real estate and personal property, 
as determined in the several states of the Union, at 
$16,902, 993,543, of which $13,036,766,925 stands 
for real estate, distributed in such a manner that 
more than one-half of the amount is assessed in 
New England and the middle states (about $6,714,- 
600,000). ‘Real estate,’ of course, includes land 
and improvements. The United States census does 
not give the items for land alone, but the state of 
Massachusetts publishes an aggregate of property 


36 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


and taxes showing the separate items, ‘land exclu- 
sive of buildings’ and ‘buildings exclusive of land.’ 
The former item (land) is $587,824,672; the latter 
(buildings) is $752,669,001, land being to buildings 
nearly 44 to 56. This ratio may be assumed to hold 
good for the entire eastern and middle sections of 
the country, giving $3, 766,000,000 for buildings and 
$2,948,000,000 for ground. In the southern sec- 
tion it may be assumed that the ratio is reversed, 
and that the $1,671,000,000 of real estate assessed 
there represents $671,000,000 as value of buildings 
and $1,000,000,000 as value of land. Inthe West- 
ern States and Territories, likewise, the total of $4,- 
644,000,000 of real estate may represent at least 
$2,000,000,000 as value of buildings and not more 
than $2,644,000,000 as value of land. This will 
give a total of $6,437,000,000 for buildings and 
$6,592,000,000 for building sites and agricultural 
land. The rate of assessment for taxes is usually 
fixed at two-thirds of the market value. Allowing 
for this the actual value of all land in the Unit- 
-ed States owned as private property must have been 
somewhat less than ten billions (10, 000,000,000). 
for the year 1880. Counting the rent on this land 
at 4 per cent we have less than $400,000,000 per an- 
num, making an average of nearly $8 for each in- 
habitant, or a little more than two cents per day. 
‘<The result surprises us. Two cents per day, or 
&8 per year, added to their income would not bring 
case and luxury to those who are struggling with 





RICHARD GRIFFITHS, 
jeneral Worthy Foreman, K. ot L. 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 39 


poverty. Nor would it amount to a vast revenue in 
the aggregate as a tax. [our per cent—and it is 
fair to estimate the return in rent as under this fig- 
ure, because, when land yields more than this 
amount in rent, the valuation is at once raised— 
would give the government only $400,000,000, 
a sum only slightly in excess of the amount annually 
paid for local taxes (state, county, township, and 
district), while the total of taxation, national and lo- 

cal, amounts to nearly $800,000,000. To pay all 
taxes, both national and local, ground-rent would 
have to be increased to 74 per cent. 

‘To understand the bearings of this, it is neces- 
sary to consider the actual annual income of the 
total population. This income is estimated by Mr. 
Edward Atkinson, in his ‘ Distribution of Products,’ 
at the round sum of $10,000,000,000. Mr. Mul- 
hall estimates the total productions of the United 
States at £1,420,000,000 sterling, or about $7, 100,- 
000,000. The items used for these estimates are 
given by Mr. Joseph Nimmo, Chief of the National 
Bureau of Statistics for the year 1884, in a letter to 
Mr. Atkinson, as follows: 

PUT nG a 5S ph STE a eee raice eae: OOUSO00, O00 
NAAM ACHAT CS ie Biles testes Ds G00, 01 a OL 
DUIS ACI SAS cate bay? pet 30,000, 000 


DITO eel ewe Ou sy aes UO OSR O40 
POU Osti hase ten roa echo, hae bie oe oD O00; O00 
TES ODIOR eine New 43,046,053 
Meat, and wool clip on ranches.... 40,000, 000 
POERGIOU Ieee es ene cote kG 44,000,000 


Potala ns yy ees $9817, 900; 059 


40) THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


‘¢ But in the above estimate the manufactures are 
given the gross annual value of manufactured goods 
for 1880, and of course there are repetitions of the 
same item under different heads. For example, lum- 
ber appears as product of saw-mills, and again in the 
items of wood manufactures and buildings, as well 
as in the inventory of products of forestry; wool and 
cotton appear first among the agricultural items, 
next in the textile productions, and lastly as items in 
the value of manufactured clothing. . Hogs are call- 
ed a manufacture under thenames of pork, lard, and 
bacon; cattle appear as beef, tallow, hides, leather, 
horns, hair, glue, and the bones and blood as fertil- 
iZers. 

‘‘Deducting the materials from the aggregate of 
manufactures, as given in the census report, the net 
total is $1,972,755,542. Moreover, in Mr. Nim- 
mo’s statement the agricultural product is increased 
by the total of live stock, which is rather a product 
of three years than of one—an over estimate of $1,- 
000,000,000. Besides this, all the hay crop and 
three-fourths of the Indian-corn crop go to the rais- 
ing of live stock and are already reckoned in the 
increase of the live stock. Deduct for these items 
and the total annual product appears as about $6, 000,- 
000,000. But there is a large amount of produce 
consumed in the farms that does not get reported in 
the census schedules. Add to this the manufac- 
tures done at the homes, a considerable item, and 
the earnings of the railroads in so far as they en- 


7 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 41 


hance prices by bringing productions to the place 
of consumption, and the actual annual income may 
be safely placed at a little over seven and a quarter 
billions—say $7,300,000,000. This would give 40 
cents per day, or $146 per year, for each inhabitant. 
The total taxation, national and local, takes four and 
one-fifth cents per day, one-tenth of the average in- 
come. The ground-rent amounts to only one-eight- 
eenth of the total average earnings. If this would 
make any great difference in the wages of the poor, 
it is certain that a small grain of economy would go 
much further. 

‘Capital has its hand at the throat of land prop- 
erty, contrary to the theory of Mr. George, who 
supposes that land is throttling capital and labor. 
Capital frees labor from the tyranny of land, and 
the present ratio of land to the total wealth of the 
United States is less than one to four. In the 
United Kingdom it forms only one-fifth of the total 
wealth, being only £1,737,000,000 sterling, with an 
“annual rental of £65,442,000, while the total wealth 
is £8, 720,000,000. 

‘‘Wages seem to be fast receding from that ‘min- 
imum that will give but a bare living.’ But it is the 
wages of the skilled mechanics and manufacturers 
that have increased most. The wages of farm hands 
are much below the wages of those engaged in man- 
- ufacturing industries. As there is one wage-earner 
to three persons, or, more accurately, to 2.9 persons, 
it is clear that all laborers who get over $1.35 per 


49 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


day, or $34.80 per month, get more than they would 
get if the total annual production were divided 
equally among the wage-earners without allowing 
anything to capital or land. 

‘‘By this it will be seen that all our skilled labor- 
ers, and a considerable number of common laborers, 
are paid now at higher rates than a socialistic divis- 
ion would give them. All who are receiving over 
$34.80 per month in wages are on the side of the 
‘bloated bondholder’ already, and cannot complain 
of land or capital as robbing them of the products 
of their labor. Skilled labor in the mechanic in- 
dustries gets from twenty to eighty per cent more 
than this average. But the farming population of 
the country get from twenty to eighty per cent less. 
And it is on the farming population that the burden 
of a high land tax would fall with the utmost sever- 
ity. A seven per cent tax on land would destroy 
our agricultural interests, all except the market gar- 
dening. No grain could be exported, and, without 
a protective tariff, none could be raised for the home 
market.” | 

To assess all taxes upon real estate would give 
the government immense revenues during periods 
of fluctuation and excitement, the use of which would 

tend to evil results, and leave it without necessary 
revenue during times of depréssion and when dis- 
bursements would be most beneficial. The present 
laws of taxation are not without genuine merit, and 
were they executed according to their intent, a just 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 43 


and adequate revenue would be secured. Any and 
all evils which may be current, arise from the fact 
that true assessments are not made. When property 
is justly assessed every man will pay a proper tax, 
and a sufficient revenue will be the result. The 
capitalist will pay as great an amount, in proportion 
to his possessions, as the middle class, or the poor 
man. | 

The chief obstacle to a fairassessment is perjury. 
Many a man who passes for honest in acommunity 
will swear to a return which he knows is false, if a 
sworn statement is necessary to get his valuation 
down to a notch satisfactory to himself. The amount 
of this kind of crime committed is appalling. The 
instances of punishment are so very few that the 
fear of the penitentiary is too remote to be a deter- 
rent. 

A large latitude is allowable for variation in es- 
timates, but where a stock of goods, for example, 
which would inventory at $20,000 is sworn to be 
worth only $1,000, the perjury is too flagrant to es- 
cape conviction upon a fair presentation of the case 
to ajury. The vigorous prosecution of such crimi- 
nals would do more to reform the revenue than all 
the legislation devisable. The first step in this re- 
formatory direction should be taken by these town 
boards of-review, either as boards or individually. 
The order of proceeding is not important. The 
knowledge that such perjury has been committed, 
however obtained, should reach the grand jury—or, 


44 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


to be more exact, the grand jury should have suffi- 
cient ground to suspect perjury to occasion a call 
for the sworn statement, the examination of which 
should be followed up by an investigation. 

Let it once be understood that the law means 
something when it prescribes a punishment of from 
one year to ten years in the penitentiary for perjury 
in an assessment return, and an era of reform will 
follow in its train. The boodler who steals the 
public money has a fellow-criminal in the property- 
owner who evades by false return the payment of 
his fair share of the common tax, and no cloak of 
respectability should shield either from the penal 
consequences of his crime. In a word, the town 
review should be supplemented by a grand jury re- 
view, with all the subsequent proceedings naturally 
following in the train of grand jury work faithfully 
done. > 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 45 


CHAPTER III. 


THE GREAT QUESTION OF MONEY AND 
LABOK. 


THE PROBLEM WHICH ALL NATIONS ARE CONSID- 
ERING—WEALTH RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO THE PRO- 
DUCER—-ECONOMISTS AND THE PRECIOUS METALS— 
CHARACTERISTICS OF MONEY——-MONETARY STANDARDS 
OF DIFFERENT NATIONS—-THE GOLD STANDARD—THE 
SILVER STANDARD—THE DOUBLE STANDARD—HIS- 
TORY OF BANKING—RISE OF THE NATIONAL BANKS 
—OPINIONS OF STATESMEN-—LABOR AND CAPITAL— 
THE WAGE FUND PRINCIPLE—PROFITS AND WAGES— 
THE ATTITUDE OF LABOR—INFLATION OF CURRENCY 
—HON. ALFRED TAYLOR'S REMARKS—DANIEL WEB- 
STER ON LABOR—MONEY THE GREAT HUMAN BLESS- 
ING——-VOLUME OF MONEY—LINCOLN’S IDEAS—HORACE 
GREELY——-BURKE—THE NEW ISSUES OF TO-DAY. 


The greatest question in political economy is that 
of money and its distribution. Itis now the prob- 
lem which occupies the attention of the statesmen of 
England, France, and Germany, and it is destined 
to be the great question in this country. 

Political economy designates the laws which goy- 


46 | THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ern the accumulation of money, but its distribution 
depends largly upon legislation and custom. Wealth 
created by the workingman in these times has a de- 
cided tendency to accumulate in the coffers of in- 
dividuals and corporations, where it is often used 
for the oppression of the laborer. Naturally wealth 
belongs to the person who produces it, to the work- 
ingman, but he is obliged to give up the greater 
portion of it to the non-producer, or capitalist. 

The primary idea of capital is, that it is obtained 
by giving a service whose market value is equal to 
the capital. But what service has the man who has 
accumulated a hundred million dollars in his own 
lifetime performed which can be compared in value 
to the wealth which he has gained? There is no 
comparison between the service and the pay of such 
men, and this is becoming more and more clear 
to the laboring millions. The man, woman or child, 
who earns a livelihood by manual labor gets too lit- 
tle, and the smart man who wins a fortune by dex- 
terity gets toomuch. The wealth of the world is too 
unevenly distributed, and the laborer is finding it out. 
What if he should make a new distribution in some 
future day as the common people of France did in 
1793 ? | 

At present there is little fear of any such thing in 
this country, because of the vast domain of unoccupied 
free land which the laborer can have by settling it. 
But the lands will by-and-by be occupied, and at a 
not very distant day, and then problems will arise 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 47 


in this country more difficult to solve than have 
ever yet arisen in Europe; for when the European 
hive becomes too crowded, the surplus laborers can 
come to America where all may secure a farm; but 
when there is no more land to grant, then will come 
the pinch. 

.. There are certain characteristics upon which the 
majority of political economists agree, as being es- 
sential to substances used for money. These char- 
acteristics are attributed to the precious metals— 
gold and silver. 

They have intrinsic value, besides their use as 
money. When either of these metals are demone- . 
tized their value diminishes. 

Good authorities hold that being simple sub- 
stances, and easily transportable, that they are uni- 
versally of the same value. This is denied, how- 
ever, by eminent writers, and it is obvious that 
money must vary with the scale of usual prices. 

They have great value in small bulk. 

These metals are indestructible, and they wear but 
little with constant use. 

They are of universal use, and are capable of be- 
ing stamped as to mark their value. 

It is not known where coinage began, but it is 
fairly decided that it was in Asia, about 880 B. C. 
Although the precious metals have been most em- 
ployed for money, many other substances have been 
used, viz. paper, iron, leather, wheat, tobacco, 
wood, shells, beads, skins, bark, ete. 


48 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


The monetary standard has always been subject 
to change, and is an open question. Some countries 
have fixed upon gold, some upon silver, and others 
upon both. 

Years ago Germany adopted silver, and has re- 
cently changed to gold. The single standard of 
silver is the rule with Russia and Austria, though 
they have no specie payment. Nearly all of Asia 
uses silver asa standard, as do a few nations on the 
American continent—in all about one-third of the 
population of the world. 

The Latin Monetary Union—France, Italy, Bel- 
gium, Switzerland and Spain—adhere to the double 
standard, though the coinage of silver has been re- 
stricted, and for a time enjoined. About thirty 
years ago Holland adopted silver, but now has a gold 
standard. 

England was the first nation to try the experi- 
ment of the gold standard, sixty-nine years ago, and 
it now exists in Australia, South Africa, Egypt, 
Turkey, Portugal, and in the Scandinavian king- 
doms. The United States adopted gold in 1873, 
but returned to the double standard in 1878. In all 
these countries silver is made a legal tender for a 
small amount, and is used as a subsidiary coin. 

As early as about two hundred and sixty years 
before the Christian era, a banker of Sicyon, a city 
of Peloponnesus, is mentioned by Plutarch in his 
life of Aratus. His business appears to have con- 
sisted in exchanging one species of money for an- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 49 


other. The money-changers of Judea, who were 
driven out of the temple by Christ, were most prob- 
ably of the description mentioned by St. Matthew 
in the parable of the talents—that is, such as made 
a trade of receiving money in deposit, and paying 
interest for it. St. Luke, in his relation of the 
same parable, expressly alludes to a banking estab- 
lishment. 

From Judea the institution of*banks was brought 
into Europe; and the Lombard Jews are said to 
have kept benches, or banks, in the market 
places of Italy for the exchange of money and bills. 
The Bank of Venice, which was the first foundation 
upon an enlarged scale that we are acquainted with, 
was established about the year 1171, under the ap- 
pellation of the Chamber of Loans (la Camera degl’ 
Imprestiti), and the contributors to a forced loan, 
that had been raised to meet the exigencies of a Ve- 
netian war with the emperors of the East and West, 
were made creditors of the Chamber, from which 
they were to receive an annual interest of four per 
cent. 

At what period the knowledge of banking was 
introduced into England is unknown, though it may 
reasonably be conjectured to have been within a, 
short time after the conquest. There can be little 
doubt of its having been first .practiced here by the 
Italian merchants, all of whom, who were engaged 
in money transactions, were distinguished, both in 
France and in England, by the name of Lombards, 


50 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


or of Tuscans. These merchants being dispersed 
throughout Europe, ‘‘+became (says Anderson) very 
convenient agents for the popes, who employed 
them to receive and remit the large revenues they 
drew from every state which acknowleged their ec- 
clesiastical supremacy. Hence, and from their be- 
ing employed to lend the money thus gathered upon 
interest, they are called by Matthew Paris ‘the 
Pope’s merchants.” We learn from the same his- 
torian that some of the English nobles availed them- 
selves of the same agency, and ‘‘sowed their mon- 
ey to make it multiply.” 

Henry III, in his twenty-ninth year, forbade his 
subjects to borrow money from any foreign mer- 
chants. This was on account of the great exactions 
which they are said to have committed. In the four- 
teenth century the business of banking was carried 
on by the drapers, at Barcelona, in Spain; as it was 
in after ages by the goldsmiths of London. Bank- 
ing began in Italy, by Lombard Jews, in the year 
808; that of Genoa, 1345; of Amsterdam, 1609; of 
Rotterdam, 1635; of England, 1694; of Hamburg, 
1710; in the East Indies, 1787; in America, 1781, 
at Philadelphia. Bankers, on their first establish- 
ment, allowed to those who entrusted their money 
in their hands a moderate interest for the same. 
Thereby their business was very considerably in 
creased. 

The first bank in America was established by Mr. 
R. Morris, the Superintendent of Finance, and ade! 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 51 


egate to the Continental congress. In May of that 
year congress gave its sanction to the plan of a na- 
tional bank, and the Bank of North America hada 
legal existence. The hostility to national banks be- 
gan with their organization, and in 1829 President 
Jackson condemned the renewal of their charters in 
his first annual message to congress. In 1833 Pres- 
ident Jackson removed the government deposits 
from the United States Bank, and placed them in 
state banks, which were called ‘‘State Deposit Banks.” 
A large number of local banks were then organized 
with the result of effecting an enormous amount of 
speculation and overtrading, and ‘‘ wild cat” bank- 
ing became rampant throughout the western states. 

In. 1836 the surplus money belonging to the 
United States treasury was distributed to the state 
banks, and to check speculation in public lands the 
President prohibited the receipt of anything but sil- 
ver and gold in payment for land sold by the gov- 
ernment. A year later the panic of 1837 paralyzed the 
nation. The funding of greenbacks into six per cent 
gold bonds was revoked in 1863, which rendered them 
irredeemable, and credit became so expanded under 
excessive issues of paper money, that the abuse of 
credit became general. The great paper bubble burst 
in 1873, and a general panic was the result. 

The vexed question of the proper adjustment of 
financial matters is the source of several theories, 
and their discussion has always been foremost in 
legislative halls. 

UNIVERSITY OF 


ILLINOIS LIBRARY 
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


52 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Our leading statesmen have frequently changed 
their opinions of the financial policy of the land. In 
1791 James Madison opposed the first United States 
bank, and in 1816, when president, recommended 
the second United States bank. The same course 
was pursued by Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. 
Thomas Jefferson acted likewise. General Jackson 
and Mr. Van Buren favored state deposit banks in 
1833, and four years later changed their minds. 

The business world has been centuries in learning 
that wealth is not money, but consists of the abund- 
ance of those things which command money. Money 
is only the instrument of exchange for the articles 
comprising wealth. Some nations have been so 
carried away with the opposite notion, that it be- 
came the object of legislation to prevent exportation 
of the precious metals, as such was thought to di- 
minish the wealth of the country. 

The rich and the poor are two classes which are 
antagonistic, notwithstanding all that has been said 
and written about their mutual dependence. The 
history of man does not present a picture like that 
of the present, nor has the combination of circum- 
stances seen to-day ever existed in the past. The 
invention of printing, telegraph, steam engine; the 
use of labor-saving machinery; the great increase of 
monopolies and the intellectual development of the 
masses have created a new era. The people are be- 
ginning to think and are beginning an attempt to 
better their condition, 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 53 


It is often said that capital and labor are depend- 
* ent upon each other, but it is also true that labor 
can secure many of the advantages held by capital, 
by combination or co-operation. Labor is undoubt- 
edly the true source of capital. Under the present 
system the power of capital to accumulate exceeds 
the power of labor to produce. This fault lies in un- 
just legislation. 

The riotous events and the exciting strikes of late 
years have elicited much thought and attention. In 
brief, it is a new phase of our history as a nation. 
It is a lesson which will bear good fruit. America 
with its millions of acres of yet uncultivated land, 
hundreds of inexhaustible, mines yet unworked, is ' 

' far from being cramped in resources, but unjust 
laws continually cast the pall of hard times upon 
the productive classes. 

In the beginning of the present century about 
seven-eights of our population were farmers, while 
the last census shows a balance against agricultural 
pursuits. New trades and employments have sprung 
up, and the divisions of labor have multiplied. Out 
of this new order of things trades unions have come 
into life, and the natural differences between 
capital and labor have been brought out in intensi- 
fied contrasts. Labor has hitherto been entirely ig- 
norant of the economic laws which govern the con- 

ditions in which it exists, but to-day education is en- 
abling it to comprehend them better. It is not to be 


54 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


denied that money is the great and only true basis 
of our social condition 

The grievance of labor does not lie on a sociai 
plane. Labor seeks to be treated humanely, irre- 
spective of wages, and not like a machine ora 
brute. The fate of the workingman’s wages is plac- 
ed between two causes—that which reduces the com- 
petition of labor, and that which produces capital. 
The wage-fund principle teaches that the wages 
labor will receive, at any time or in-any trade, is 
simply a question of division; capital may be call- 
ed the dividend, the number of workingmen the di- 
visor, and the quotient that amount which each 
workingman receives as wages. There are buttwo 
ways of increasing the latter—either increase the 
dividend or decrease the divisor. In each case 
wages increase. 

Labor is interested in high profits as much as 
capital, for capital employs labor. How to in- 
crease capital has been a problem which all modern 
peoples have industriously attempted to solve. When 
labor and capital demand each other equally, happi- 
ness, peace and plenty result. 

‘There have arisen various theories and conflicts be- 
tween them in regard to commerce, free trade, pro- 
tection, agriculture and manufactures, and partisans 
are urging their policies with zeal and all the ardor 
of positive conviction, and they say.the prosperity 
of the country les in the adoption of their theories. 
Many of these have arisen from local causes, and 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 55 


are doomed to defeat through lack of national im- 
portance. 

In the use and misuse of profits lies a great pow- 
er in the industrial world. Labor has a well ground- 
ed complaint in the abuse of capital, yet it is im- 
possible to direct how wealth shall be spent by its 
owner. The investment of capital in productive 
industry advances the interests of the workingman, 
and profits inure to both capital and labor. 

The workingman is not entirely without blame 
in the matter of ill-spent money. The amount of mon- 
ey spent for tobacco and liquor exceeds that expend- 
ed for any other two articles, and in this he is wrong 
for he injures no one so much as himself. 

Labor is grieved and angryat the injustice with 
which it feels that capital oppresses it, and in de- 
fense, it has organized the greatest labor order the 
world has ever known. In truth, there should be no 
antagonizm between capital and labor, for labor pro- 
duces capital. If there were no capital there could 


be no industrial labor.. One is helpless without the - e 


other. Should labor cease for forty-eight hours capi- 
tal would take flightand want would stalk the earth. 
Labor needs the guidance of honest leaders rather 
than the violence of scheming demagogues. 

_ It is probable the present conflict between labor 
and capital originates in a misunderstanding: capi- 
tal does not comprehend labor, and labor does not 
understand capital. 

_ Hon. Alfred Taylor says: It is the qa of every 


56 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


healthy person to be self-sustaining and contribute 
some good by his energy, either mental or physical, 
for the blessing he enjoys in his life. Everything 
that adds to the happiness of life is the result of some- 
body’s mental or physical exertion, and to enjoy it 
without an equivalent is to bea drone and asponger 
of another’s toil. The scriptures inform us thatin six 
days God made the heavens and the earth, and all 
things therein. Not only setting an example of an 
industrial life, but dignifying its mission. Those that 
plow the soil, sow the seed and raise the food and 
weave the cloths, and build the shelter and create a 
nation’s wealth, should be rich and enjoy life instead 
of struggling for existence, as they now do beneath 
mortgaged homes and burdensome taxes and blight- 
ed lives. The larger the fortunes of the few, the 
greater the hardships of the many.. A class of men 
who will neither work, fight nor pay taxes; who 
have inspired class laws in order to extort fabulous 
private fortunes, and thereby they have excited envy, 
jealousy and discontent on the one hand, and sel- 
fishness, aggression, tyranny and crime on the other. 
Sculptured palaces are the immediate parents of the 
distressed hovel. Must religion build extravagant 
churches, tradeits costly warehouses, wealth its long 
streets of sculptured mansions, and luxury flaunt its 
voluptuous trappings in the face of the industrial 
poor, debasing manhood, forcing them into vice and 
crime? President Lincoln said in his second message: 
‘‘Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Cap- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 5 


ital is only the fruit of labor and could never have 
existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the 
superior and deserves much higher consideration.” 

Webster said in his speech in 1837: ‘+The inter- 
est of this great country, the principal cause of all 
prosperity, is labor, labor, labor. The government 
was made to protect this industry; to give it both en- 
couragement and security, to that very end, with 
this precise object in view, power was given to Con- 
gress over the currency and over the money system 
of the country.” 

Let us swear to make labor profitable and respect- 
able, whether it be hand work or brain work. —_La- 
bor and capital are joint partners in the production 
of wealth. Capital is to labor what the skillful hand 
is to the useful tool. Interest and_ profit deter- 
mines what each shall have. Then there would be 
no antagonism, unless one extorted from the other 
and brought on the conflict» 

The claims of labor can. be no more forcibly 
shown than wealth in a state of nature. Trees in 
the forest, rock in the quarry, iron in the mountain, 
bricks in the clay, or glass from sand on the sea 
shore. In their primitive condition they are almost 
worthless. Built into a mansion they furnish most 
of the comforts and luxury of life, whose value is 
increased a thousand fold and ought to receive the — 
first attention of its legislator. 

Men in affluent circumstances having no occasion 
‘for temptation claim superior nature, honesty, which 


58 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


keeps them from crime, when, in fact, it is only for- 
tunate circumstances in life. Upon scanty allow- 
ance, coupled with hard work, they would be fre- 
quently ugly and criminal. A prominent divine once 
told his congregation of merchants, bankers and 
speculators that he was on too high a plane to be 
affected by a temptation to steal. He was then get- 
ting $20,000 per annum for his talk. 

Money is an instrument susceptible of being the 
greatest blessing human ingenuity ever invented. 
Money to commerce is what blood is to the system; 
money to commerce is what water is to navigation, 
or freight cars to railroad traffic. To shrink their 
quantity clogs the channels of trade. All the polit- 
ical economists from Richards to Mill, admit that ex- 
pansion of money is life, that contraction is death, 
and that the amount of money in circulation controls 
and fixes values and prices of all commodities, includ- 
ing land and labor. We have but two kindsof dollars 
in this country, one of gold, the otherof silver. All 
others are a promise to pay a dollar, or be redeemed 
in coin. Any circulating medium whether of coin, or 
paper, that is not a full legal tender for public or 
private debts, is a fraud and a cheat. ‘The control 
over the volume of money is mainly in the hands 
of the national banks, together with the right and 
profit of issue. A usurped sovereign power they 
will never surrender, because of its profit, until com- 
pelled to do so by law. 

The volume of money in the United States as 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 59 


shown by congressional speeches, is from $12 to $13 
per capita. Subtract what is on deposit and held 
for redemption purposes, and there will not be left 
more than$9.70 per capitaavailable for actual busi- 
ness. Great Britain, thirty times smaller in area, 
and only about two-thirds our population, has $23.70 
per capita. France with her 200,000 square miles 
of territory, has $43 per capita and her people com- 
paratively out of debt. Such are the facts, as un- 
welcome as they may be. 

Those countries are densely populated as compar- 
ed with ours, and the facilities of exchange far more 
convenient than in a country as expansive as this, 
and because of its wide distribution, payments of 
debts cannot proceed with the same rapidity. 

The bank of England was established in 1794, 
and is 93 years old. It was originated by a Lon- 
don merchant by the name of Patterson, and was 
first chartered for eleven years. It has suspended 
- specie payment eleven times, one of which lasted 
twenty-six years, each time tearing down the col- 
umns of British commerce and spreading financial 
distress, not only in England, but frequently in oth- 
er nations. With all its boasted pride of gold re- 
demption, its bank notes have been 41 per cent be- 
low par. Its mode of resumption has been invaria- 
bly over the road of contraction, the path of gloom 
and despair, where nothing flourishes but poverty 
and crime. 

Abraham Lincoln expressed to an intimate friend 


60 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


a short time before he was assassinated, that he very 
much doubted whether there was moral virtue and 
patriotism enough among the controlling classes to 
perpetuate our institutions. 

Mr. Greely upon his death bed said.‘‘TheTribune 
and country are gone, and I am going.”’ 

The permanence of the government can only be 
secured by such property qualification as will pre- 
vent those who have no interest in the country from 
voting and controlling its affairs, shouts Hugh Mc- 
Cullough, ex-secretary of the treasury, the prime 
criminal of modern times. Government authority 
never shows its weakness and demoralized condition 
so much as when it resorts to physical and brute 
force to carry its ends. 

Cesar said: ‘‘The ides of March have come.” 
When they had passed he was lifeless at the foot of 
Pompey’s statue. Bloated wealth can never com- 


“ prehend the suffering of the poor. Mary Antoinette, 


when told that the fisherwomen were revolting be- 
cause they had no bread, replied in her confused ig- 
norance with the insult, ‘“‘Why don’t they eat cake ?” 
. When Paris was ina wild tumult the king played 
locksmith to avoid the danger, and wrote in his di- 
ary, ‘‘ Nothing in particular happened to-day.” Yet 
they had moved the foundation of his monarchy. 
Charles I, with contempt for the people, said : 
‘‘ France needs mowing,” and asked, ‘‘ What can 
these round-heads do?” and he told them to go and 
eat grass. In one week from that time they were 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 61 


carrying his head on a pole. Rousseau wrote a book’ , 


pleading for honesty and purity in the French gov- 


ernment, which was treated with contempt by the | 


aristocratic class. Carlisle says the second edition 
of that book ‘‘was bound in the skins of the sneer- 
ing aristocracy.” 

The gold standard, the swindling bond system, 
the demonetizing of silver, the funding and refund. 
ing of national debts, the changing of inflated paper 
debts to a gold standard, is not the work of states- 
men; it is the work of cunning, crafty tricksters, 
who betray their exalted trust, and barter away the 
most sacred principles of a confiding people. | They 


are traitors to the republican form of government, ' 


and clamor for the gold standard to pile up collossal 
fortunes, notwithstanding it is the prop of a mon- 
archy, and leads to a centralized government of 
force, resting on a standing army. 

_ Nothing can be permanent based on a sham. Our 
banking system is based on debt, while debt and in- 
terest mean bankruptcy and the transfer of labor 
and property, without an equivalent. 

To illustrate, I cite the following as only one of 
hundreds that took place in the years 1863 and 
1864: $10,000,000 of United States bonds were sold 
in New York in 1863 when gold was $2.57 in green- 
backs, which cost the bondholder in gold about $3,- 
900,000; during the last fifteen years the interest 
amounted in gold, when the bonds were called and 
~ paid, to $9,900,000; and the principal, $10,000,000, 


P 


& 


62 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


making a total of $19,900,000; subtract purchase 
money, $3,900,000, and this leaves a net profit of 
$16,000,000, 3 

King Philip said he had ‘no faith in the patriot- 
ism of any class of men who would be made to do 
wrong for a jackass load of gold.” ‘To first impov- 
erish and then enslave, has been the history of the 
downfall of all republics. Do not imagine for a 
moment that our languishing industries and low 
price of agricultural commodities, is the lack of wis- 
dom in legislation. Far from it. It is the work of 
a well-organized conspiracy, well known and long 
practiced in Europe, and forced upon this country 
by long-headed foreign tricksters. We have already 
paid the cost of the war in interest, the principal of 
which is over double in amount to-day, considering 
the price of labor and its commodities, as compar- 
ed with what it was at the close of the war. A 
statesman has said that were it not for the the ener- 
gy and enterprise of the people and fertility of the 
soil, American society would pine away beneath 
the blighting influence of marasmus. If national 
debt brought about by inflated paper currency was 
ever settled upon a gold basis, history fails to re- 
cord the fact, 

Burke says: ‘It is to the life and property of the 
citizens, and not to the demand of the creditor of the 
state, that the original faith of society is pledged. 
The claim of the citizen is prior in time, paramount 
in title and supreme in equity.’ The bondholder 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 63 


demonstrates why should a United States bond be 
guaranteed against all loss by storm, pestilence, 
war, and famine, exempt from taxation, principal 
and interest payable in gold and for ever afterward 
a lien upon everybody’s property.” Before the 
shrinkage in values took place, the long-headed men 
sold their property, invested it in bonds, moved into 
the towns and cities of the country and commenced 
clipping coupons, occasionally giving one to a gold- 
basis editor, who shouts the delusion that a national 
debt is a national blessing, the financial questions 
are settled, and gold and greenbacks are par. 
Political parties have their birth, growth and 
maturity by first serving the people with fidelity on 
the vital questions of the day. When they have ac- 
complished their mission and become rich and pow- 
erful, they boast of by-gone issues and fight battles 
over where they have once won a victory, and use 
their historic fame by appealing to the people for a 
new lease of power to acquire private fortunes by 
discriminating laws. No love or hate of old party 
issues, no pride or prejudice born of old conflicts 
should control your vote. New issues are upon us, 
and new ideas and new votes must pave the way for 
- industrial emancipation, and then comes the tan- 
gible reality.” 


64 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER IV. 


GOVERNMENT LOANS TO THE PEOPLE.! 


MAN SHALL EARN HIS BREAD BY THE SWEAT OF HIS 
- BROW—INTEREST AND USURY—THE MOSAIC LAW— 
THE POWER OF INTEREST—ILLUSTRATIONS—LOANS TO 
THE PEOPLE A FEASIBLE PROJECT—THE GOVERNMENT 
LOANS TO THE BANKERS—-LOANS TO THE PEOPLE AT A 
-LOW RATE WOULD BE A BLESSING—-HOW THE FARM- 
ERS WOULD SECURE PROSPERITY—MILLIONAIRES AND 
PAUPERS ARE INCREASING—-REGULATION OF THE VOL- 
UME OF MONEY—GARFIELD’S THEORY—TOTAL NA- 
TIONAL DEBT—-HYPOCRITICAL POLITICIANS—USURY 
NOTHING MORE THAN ROBBERY. ~ 


‘(Ir is a decree of heaven that every man shall 
earn his bread by the sweat of his brow,” and no 
man will deny that it is just and proper. Further- 
more, it will not be disputed that every man has a 
right to the product of his own labor. Under the 
present order of things men do not get the benefit of 
that which they produce, neither is it the practice 
for all men to earn the bread they eat. The rule 


1 By Hon.W. D. Vincent, L, A., 3797, K. of L. 





FREDERICK TURNER, 
General Treasurer, K. of &, 


oe 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 67 


now is, and has been, that the man who earns the 
most gets the least, and he who earns the least gets 
the most. 

A careful study of the subject of interest will 
convince any reasonable mind that it has been one 
of the leading causes in brmging about this state of 
affairs. Usury or interest upon money (which is 
one and the same thing), has been condemned by the 
better class of thinking men in allages of the world 
—God himself condemns it. ‘‘Thou shalt not lend 
thy brother money uponusury.” It was strictly pro- 
hibited by the Mosaic law; and for many years after 
Christ established the new order of things, any per- , 
son in the church who was known to pursue or de- 
fend the practice of usury was subject to expulsion. 
It was prohibited because it was wrong. If it 
was wrong then it is wrong now. From no process 
of reasoning can we conclude that it is any nearer 
right now, than it was when Christ drove the money 
changers out of the temple. 

Every state in the union has enacted laws against 
the taking of interest above a certain per centage. 
True, these laws are not enforced, but the fact that 
they remain on the statute books is proof that the 
law-makers themselves: know that high rates of in- 
terest are bad for the people. It is impossible for 
anyone who has the welfare of his country at heart 
to uphold a system that will enable men to exact 
_high rates of interest. On the other hand, it is 
equally unjust to oppose any reform that would 


68 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


lower the rate of interest. As before stated, the ex- 
isting usury laws are not enforced, and under the 
present system it is absolutely impossible to enforce 
them. 

The only way to form a proper idea of the power 
of interest to absorb is to make our estimates for 
long periods of time. Laws should be made, not 
only in the interest of all the people and on the 
principle of ‘‘the greatest good to the greatest num- 
ber,” but they should be made for the people of 
~ the next generation, as well as those who are now 
living. e 

We have no right to enact laws that will be de- 
trimental to our children, or to oppose any measure 
that will be beneficial to them. We have no right 
to uphold customs which, even though they may 
not materially affect us, will eventually make paup- 
ers of a majority of our people. Three hundred 
years is a very short time ir. the history of a nation, 
yet if this government should give its note to-day 
for one dollar due three hundred years from date, at 
10 per cent compound interest, the debt at maturity 
would be four times greater than the present assess- 
ed valuation of all the property in the United 
States. 

The farmer mortgages his place to-day for $1,000 
at 12 per cent compounded annually, and leaves 
the debt for his grandson to pay one hundred years 
after date. At the end of the time the young man 
finds a debt of $84,675,000 on his hands. Ifthe 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 69 


three generations have done well and worked hard, 
the farm is worth $50,000. If sold, it will pay less 
than one mill on the dollar. 

One dollar put out at interest—2 per cent per 
month compounded annually—if allowed to run one 
hundred years would amount to the enormous sum 
of $2,551,797,404. In silver -dollars this would 
weigh 89,612 tons. 

Two young men, James and John, start out in 
life at the age of twenty-one, with $1,000 each. 
James invests his money ina farm. At the endof 
twenty-five years, if he has no bad luck—if drouth 
and grasshoppers have not visited him too often, 
and if he has been able to stem the tide of periodi- 
cal panics, he is worth $40,000. He has accumula- 
ted this by hard work and the strictest economy, to- 
gether with the increase in the value of his farm. 

John settles in town and establishes a ‘loan 
agency.” He is very shrewd, and manages to keep 
half his capital loaned out all the time at 2 per cent 
per month, compounded every three months. At the 
end of twenty-five years he is worth $170,000. He 
has performed no labor except to drive a good bar- 
gain when he could. James, the farmer, has worked 
hard through heat and cold, from early morn till 
late at night. He has been trying to keep up with 
his friend John, and has not taken the time to read 
_ good books and study finance. He has neglected 
_the art of ‘addition, multiplication and silence.” 
But he has produced something. He has helped 


70 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


develop the country, and has added something to 
the world’s wealth. Yet he is worth $130,000 less 
than John the money loaner, who has done nothing 
and added not one dollar to the resources of his 
country. 

Now we claim that this order of things should be 
reversed. If any one has the advantage, it should 
be the man who chooses to labor and build up the 
country, and not the man who decides to do nothing 
but accumulate the products of other men’s labor. One 
of the greatest means for the accomplishment of this 
end is, for the government to loan money, in limited 
quantities, at a low rate of interest—the rate to be de- 
termined after proper deliberation. I am awareofthe 
prejudice that exists against new ideas, and the pro- 
position for the government to loan money to poor 
people, is a new idea. The proposition has never 
been. thought of, or agitated by the people to any 
extent. This will be one of the arguments used by 
our opponents. They will tell us that it is an ex- 
periment. ; 

I answer that government control of the postal 
system was once a new thing, and an experiment. 

Is that any reason why it should not be 
adopted? It is an admitted fact that the people de- 
rive more benefits from the postal service, as admin- 
istered by the government, than from any other 
service of a public nature, as compared to the cost. 
And it will not be denied that if this system were 
operated by private individuals and corporations, it 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 71 


would be made a means of oppression and extortion, 
equal to that which is now carried on by railroad, 
telegraph, standard oj1 and moneyed monopolies. 
Every function that is now performed by the govern- 
ment, was once performed by individuals, and that 
unfortunate state of affairs would exist to-day, but 
for experiments and new ideas. Government itself 
‘ was anew idea. Republican form of government 
is an experiment to-day, and yet I dare say the 
people do not wish it to be abandoned. The 
threshing machine, the printing press, the rail- 
road, the telegraph and the telephone are among 
the fruitful effects of experiments and new ideas. 
This is an age of progression, and none but the anti- 
quated ‘‘fogy” will adhere to old opinions because 
they are old, or oppose new ones because they are 
new. 

Our government has been in the loan business 
for almost a quarter of a century. For twenty-three 
years it has loaned out to national bankers over 
$300,000,000 at one per cent a year. Instead of 
loaning it out to poor men who needed it most, it 
has been loaning to a wealthy class who have need- 
ed it least. During all this time while all these rich 
men have been borrowing at one per cent they have 
been loaning the same money to their poor neigh- 
bors at from 12 to 24 per cent. This is a fact so 
well known and an injustice so glaring, that no ar- 
gument is necessary to demonstrate its truth or evil 
effects. The system under which this outrage is 


% 


72 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


permitted is so contemptibly wicked, that I dare say 
that its defense will not be undertaken. 

It is a self-evident fact that if the banker gets 
money of the government at one per cent, the farm- 
er ought to get it at the same rate, if he can furnish 
as good security. No one can possibly deny this, 
unless he takes the position that our government 
should be run in the interest of the rich at the ex- _ 
pense of the poor. On the contrary, I claim that 
the government should loan only to the poor. The 
rich man can take care of himself. But, if he can- 
not, if he finds this life too great a burden because 
of his riches, let him follow the Bible injunction, and 
give what he has to the poor. | 

What harm can possibly arise from government 
loans? Suppose the people get the money at three 
per cent interest. One per cent to go the county, 
in which the loan is made; one per cent to the state, 
and one per cent to the national government. In 
this way the people as awhole, would get back every 
dollar of interest paid by individuals. These sev- 
eral governments—county, state and national— 
would be benefited to the extent of every dollar of 
interest paid. Whatever benefits the government, 
under a just system of laws, benefits the people. 

The men who are now loaning money from 12to 
48,and a few as high as 60 per cent, would be com- 
pelled to come down to 3 per cent, or go out 
of business. The consequence would be _ that 
most of them would quit the business, and 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. te 


take up some other calling. This of itself 
would be a blessing. There are to-day thous- 
ands of men who are making their living, ora 
greater part of it, by loaning money. Many of them 
do nothing else, and they are rapidly accumulating 
wealth. These men are positively not doing one 
thing toward developing the country. They are 
not adding’ one dollar of wealth to it. They do not 
even earn the salt that goes in the bread they eat, 
They consume as much as the producer, or more, 
but they pay for it with money that has been wrung 
from the producer by an unjust system. These 
men are living on the products of other men’s toil. 

And yet we cannot blame these men. They are not 
responsible for the system,and without a change we 
could hardly get along without them. They are 
not, as a rule, more selfish than other men. They 
are virtually nothing but public paupers, but if the 
people have no more judgment than to support 
them, by keeping up the system, they should find 
fault with no one but themselves. We are apt to 
choose a calling which we think will bring us in the 
greatest returns. 

Every man in one sense of the word, is free to 
choose for himself with this exception. No man 
can go into the money-loaning business, if he has 
no money. The man who is now loaning money 
might have chosen to be a farmer, and the farmers 
might have decided to loan money, but this does 
not correct the evil. Itis no proof that men should 


74. THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


come into possession of that which they do not earn. 
If by some means men were compelled to change 
conditions—if those who are now poor should 
become rich, and those who are now rich should be- 
come poor, the fact would remain that one class of 
society would be getting the benefit. of the hard _ 
earnings of another class. The injustice and hard- 
ships would be just as great. 

That we all have equal chances is the lan- 
guage of the professional gambler. This he 
offers as consolation to his poor victim, and the 
deluded wretch will go off and repeat it. And 
while we often find the men who are suffering most 
from the curse of usury defending it, yet the 
fact remains that it is a curse. John Brown was 
the best friend the African slaves ever had, and yet 
they were among the first to resist him when he 
sought to free them. Verily, ignorance and preju- 
dice cover more sins than charity. 

We expect to hear from the opponents of this 
measure a great deal of talk about ‘‘an army of paid 
clerks”—that the people do not need a guardian. 
In the absence of argument they will offer for your 
consideration a long list of high sounding words and 
phrases. Ridicule will doubtless be resorted to, 
as that is one of the means used in fighting every 
just measure. When a lawyer has a weak case he 
invariably resorts to ridicule or abuse, and sometimes 
both. If they are consistent they will tell you that 
it is not the government’s business to look after the 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. mays 


people—that ‘we are not our brothers keeper.” For- 
getting that this language was used first by a mur- 
derer who was trying to conceal his crime. 

Who can estimate the benefit our country would 
- derive in one hundred years time from this vast army 
of men, if they were compelled to engage in some 
useful occupation? If they could get but 3 per cent 
for their money,they would prefer to invest in some 
factory or other enterprise, for the employment of 
labor. This would increase the demand and price 
for labor. Their money would soon be in circula. 
tion in the hands of the people, without their having 
to pay one cent of interest. One or two men would 
be able to do the work of these men, and in ashort 
time the postmasters at the different county seats 
would be able to do it in addition to their other du- 
ties. 

People would become so prosperous that few would 
want to borrow, even at 3 per cent. The farmer who 
is now paying these high rates of interest can lift 
the mortgage on his place with 3 per cent money, and 
gradually get out of debt. If it is expected that he 
will ever get out of debt, by paying the present rate 
of interest, it must be admitted that he can get out 
sooner at a lower rate. It must also be admitted, 
that the less interest money he is compelled to pay, 
the more prosperous he is. His increased prosper- 
ity enables him to pay—compels him to pay—an in- 

creased price for labor. In this way the poor man 


76 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


who has no property to put up as security, derives a 
benefit from government loans. 

The men whonow own their farms will be able to 
keep them. They will not be compelled to sell them 
to keep the sheriff from making a sale. How many 
of the men who owned farms fifteen years ago own 
them now? I venture to say not more than one in 
twenty. What has become of the other nineteen? 
Most of them were compelled to sell out. OldShy- 
lock had a death grip on them. They have gone fur- 
ther west where land is cheaper. 

In a few years from now, many more of our far- 
mers will have to travel the same road. In factthey 
are traveling that road to-day. We are told that this 
is a benefit to our country. That wealthier men are 
taking the places of the poor ones,who are moving 
away. This is true, but it only proves that poor men 
are being crowded tothe wall for the benefit of those 
with greater capital. But this isnot a matter of such 
serious consequence so long as there is plenty of va- 
eant lands. But «‘Uncle Sam” will not always be 
rich enough to give usall a farm. 

_ When the government land is all occupied, which 
can only be a few years at the longest, and 
these poor wretches are no longer able to find cheap 
lands, what will be the result? They will become 
tenants, subject in time to eviction and all the at- 
tendant evils of a British landlord system. But we 
are told the American people will never submit to 
it. They would have been compelled to submit to it, 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. EE 


ere this had it not been for our boundless resources, 
and unlimited area of public land. 

Our country has prospered. Indeed it has. Our 
resources and natural advantages are greater than 
those of any other nation on earth. America is still 
the best country in the world and, as good patriot- 
ic citizens, we should strive to keep it so. We have 
prospered in spite of bad laws and wicked systems, 
but not because of them. We even prospered in 
spite of African slavery, but that prosperity was not 
due to slavery. Neither is our present prosperity 
due to the usury system. While our material wealth 
has increased at a wonderful rate, it has been, and 
is being now, concentrated in a few men’s hands. 
Millionaires and paupers are also increasing. There 
must naturally follow hundreds of paupers for every 
millionaire. 

“There are two things,” says Socrates, ‘+ which 
the magistrates of Athens will be careful to keep 
out of our city—opulence and poverty. Opulence 
because it engenders effeminacy; poverty because 
it produces baseness; both because they lead to re- 
volution.” . 

It has well been said that these two evils go hand 
in hand. One cannot exist without the other. They 
are the two extremes of one evil. 

Another consideration of government loans will 
be the regulation of the volume of money. As 
the law now stands, the bankers can expand or con- 
tract the volume of money to almost any extent. It 


78 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


was only a few years ago—1878—that they gave us 
an illustration of their power, withdrawing $19,000,- 
000 from circulation in a few weeks’ time,almost 
producing a panic, and compelling the president of 
the United States to veto a law of congress. 

About that time, the bank journals of the east op- 
enly boasted that the banks, by concerted action, 
could in a short time defeat any measure of con- 
gress that was detrimental to theirinterests. We all 
know the effect of contraction and expansion of the 
volume of money. The price of every day’s labor, 
and every bushel of grain, is regulated by it. By 
this means the bankers have it in their power to 
make low prices or high prices, and they never fail 
to use this power in their own interests. Ina speech 
in congress, Garfield said, ‘‘ Whoever controls the 
volume of our currency isabsolute master of the in- 
dustries and commerce of the country.” 

With government loans, under proper regulations, 
this power would be taken out of the hands of the 
bankers and placed in the hands of the people. 
It may be said that if it is wrong for individuals 
to loan money, it is wrong for the government. But 
this is not true. The government may properly— 
and must necessarily—do many things which would 
be improper for individuals to do. The government 
makes money, but if the individual undertakes it, 
although he may use the same material and make a 
perfect imitation, he is sentenced to state’s prison. 











AN, 


LITCHM 


CHARLES H, 


of L 


General Seeretary, K 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 81 


Then again, the people as a whole, get every dollar 
of money derived from government loans. 

Under the present system a favored class get it. 
In the one case the people get the benefit; in the 
other, a few rich speculators derive all the benefits at 
the expense of the poorest class in the community. 
We have only to choose between these two classes. 
Which shall be rewarded, the poor laborer or the 
wealthy idler? 

It is often said that men have the same right to 
receive pay for the use of money, that they have to 
receive pay for the use of a horse. Again there is a 
difference. Money isnot onlya public necessity but it 
is amedium of exchange, an implement of trade and, 
in one sense, a measure of values. It is the only le. 
gal tender for the payment of debts. To be in debt 
is to be a slave, and he who controls the one thing 
that can legally cancel a debt is the master. And 
as Mr. Garfield has said, is absolute dictator over our 
industries and commerce. 

We have already seen how the wealthy 
the way, one of the most ‘‘dangerous classes” —may 
control it by means of usury. One dollar, or even 
one cent, placed at the lowest possible rate of inter- 
est, if allowed to run long enough, will absorb every 
dollar in the world. This fact of itself, is proof that 

usury should be prohibited. It is possible with the 
aid of a few other wicked customs and laws, for a 
few men to own every dollar in the United States. 





and by 


89 THE VOICR OF LABOR. 


These means have been used to a greater extent than 
war, to bring about the conquest of nations. 

It is estimated that the total amount of indebted- 
ness, both public and private, in the United States, 
is about twenty billion dollars. Every dollar of this 
is drawing interest, and every dollar of this interest — 
is paid by labor. There comes a time every few 
years when the interest falling due on this enormous 
debt, amounts to more than every dollar in circula- 
tion. The result is a financial crisis—a panic. 
Sometimes it is temporarily postponed, but it is just 
as sure to come, as effect follows cause. 

The men who control the currency-—the one thing 
with which this interest can be paid—will not let it 
out. They draw it in as fast as possible to hoard it 
up. The law gives them this power and they use it. 
They make money by it, and that is what this class 
of.men live for. It is their sole object in life—the 
summit of their ambition. 

They demand the pound of flesh and get it, but 
they laugh in their sleeves to think that their poor 
victims have not the manhood, patriotism—not even 
the good sense, to resist it. Men are thrown out of 
employment. Prices go down. Money is hard to 
get. Men are compelled to part with their property 
for less than it is worth—even less than it cost. Paup- 
ers, tramps and criminals increase. Law-suits and 
other calamities which naturally follow in the wake 
of hard times, come in their order. 

Hypocritical politicians, claiming to be statesmen, 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 83 


have educated the people to believe that a panic once 
in eight or ten years, ‘is a necessary consequence of 
good government. Sensible people absolutely enter- 
tain this foolish notion. Some of them believe this 
from the same reason that they hold on to many 
other absurd opinions regarding finance—because 
their fathers before them believed it. The thought 
never enters their minds, that they are the result of 
the manipulations of selfish and designing men. 

There is another difference between the hire of a 
horse, and the hire of money. The horse must be fed 
and attended. This is not necessary with money. — 
The horse will wear out; money will not. The horse 

will grow old; money will not. Money is just as 
valuable as it was before. The horse is not. The 
argument which applies to one, does not apply to the 
other. 

Our opponents will tell you that if all the wealth 
of the world was divided equally among men, it 
would not be long before a few men would again 
have it all. This is an ‘‘old song,” and some men 
have repeated it so often they really believe there is 
argument in it. We admit that this would be the 
result, if the cause is not removed. The same cause 
will invariably produce the same effect. Abolish 
usury, and other wicked systems, and the result will 
be different. This is what every just man should 
_ try to do—remove the cause. 

We admit that some men will grow rizh faster 
‘than others under a perfect system of laws. The 


84 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


man who is more industrious than his indolent neigh- 
bor ought to receive more pay; but let us bear in 
mind that there is a difference between the industri- 
ous man and a miser. The man who hoards his 
wealth, and whose whole object in life is the accu- 
mulation of wealth, is a ten times greater curse to 
society than the indolent man. 

There is another class of men who will always 
grow rich faster than their neighbors—the sharp un- 
principled men. Because nature has given them 
the advantage of their fellows is no reason why the 
laws should step in and give them still greater ad- 
vantages. These are the strong men. They need 
no special legislation in their behalf. The object of. 
law is supposed to be the protection of the weak 
against the oppressions of the strong. Blackstone 
defines law as ‘‘a rule of action, etc., commanding 
that which is right and prohibiting that which is 
wrong.” Any law for the effectual abolition of 
usury will be a means of enforcing this principle. 

But it is not asked that there shall be a division 
of property. We would not have one dollar of Shy- 
lock’s ill-gotten gains taken from him. We only ask 
that he be restrained from further robbery. Com- 
munism in any form is bad, but that particular form 
which takes from all and gives to all, is certainly no 
worse than that which takes from the many and 
gives to the few. 

There is but one just rule to govern in this mat- 
ter, and that is this: That every person should re- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. $5 


ceive and enjoy the full value of the product of his 
own industry. This is impossible under the present 
system, as has been demonstrated. If it be true that 
every man has a right to the product of his own la- 
bor, it is equally certain that no other man has a 
right toit. Itisan undisputed fact that men do get 
more, and they get it by the practice of usury. If 
there is any way except through government loans 
to cut off this practice, it has been beyond the wis- 
dom and intelligence of man to discover it. 


86 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER V. 


THE NATIONAL BANKING SYSTEM.; 


THE MONETARY CHANGE DEMANDED BY WORKINGMEN— 
AIM OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR—SOULLESS CORPORA- 
TIONS HAVE NO PITY—ATTITUDE OF BANKING COR- 
PORATIONS—‘‘ SPECIE BASIS ”—‘‘ INTRINSIC VALUE” 
—‘‘HONEST MONEY ’’—MONEY IN ANCIENT AGES— 
IRON, BRASS, TIN, CLOTH, LEATHER AND WOODEN 
MONEY—-GREAT FINANCIERS ON METALIC MONEY— 
HOW THE NATIONAL BANKS ABSORB THE NATION’S 
WEALTH—DEBT THEIR FOUNDATION—HOW THE BANKE- 
ERS SECURE DOUBLE INTEREST—ENORMOUS SUMS OF 
MONEY WITHDRAWN FROM JUST TAXATION—THE IM- 
MENSE EARNINGS OF THE INDIANAPOLIS NATIONAL 

_BANK—WHAT WORKINGMEN SHOULD HAVE. 


‘Tur Knights of Labor demand at the hands of 
congress a change of the present monetary system, 
whereby money shall issue directly to the people, 
and that all of the national money shall be legal 
tender for all debts. No other clause in their plat- 
form is so far-reaching in its influence, or one that 


1 By J. W. Gaul. S. W.F., L. A,, 2691, K. of L. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 87 


more nearly touches the vital interests of the people. 

Of one thing we may rest assured, that so long 
as the financial legislation of the country is left to 
be controlled by a class whose interests lie in the 
direction of increasing and perpetuating the indebt- 
edness of the country, as may best suit their own 
purposes, so long as that class retains the control, 
they will continue to wield it for their own aggran- 
dizement, utterly regardless of the periodically re- 
turning panics that sweep over the land like cy- | 
clones, leaving ruin and desolation in their track, 
and just so long will the toiling millions of our 
brothers be deprived of the full, just fruits of their 
’ labor, and remain the veriest dependents, the ‘‘hew- 
ers of wood and drawers of water” for soulless cor- 
porations that have no heart and no pity. 

The necessities of the people are their opportuni- 
ties. The greater their extremities, the more inflex- 
ible are they in their demands. Those who control 
the money of a country contro] all else that it 
contains, and recognition of that fact, on their part, 
is sufficient explanation of the stubborn fight they 
make to retain it. To-day we are confronted with 
just such a spectacle. . 

In this boasted ‘land of the free,’ a moneyed ob- 
ligarchy, composed of some 2,400 national banks, 
boldly and openly assume it as their right to dictate 
as to the volume of our currency, the nature of the. 
material that shall compose it, and the source from 
‘which it shall be issued. They deny the right and 


88 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


power of the people to supply themselves through 
the agency of the government: deny that the law 
can create money, except its material be gold, or 
such other metal as their unscrupulous greed may 
determine. As one means of perpetuating their 
power they strive to surround the whole subject with 
mystery by the use of terms invented to blind and 
mislead, thus making fraud and rascality less easily 
understood. They have succeeded to a most la- 
menrtable extent in deceiving the producing millions, 
whilst they themselves are not. deceived. 

‘«‘Specie basis,” ‘Intrinsic value,” and ‘« Honest 
money” have been dinned into ourears unremitting- 
ly, and industry lies prostrate, millions starve, ruin 
stalks through the land, crime increases, strikes and 
riots prevail and blood is shed—all this while ‘‘great 
financiers” and ‘‘ wise statesmen” quibble about a 
few grains more or less of gold or silver to the dol- - 
lar. 

Let us turn to the pages of history and see if, 
from the practice and experience of the past, we 
cannot learn some lessons that will serve to expose 
the falsity of the ideas they have so assiduous- 
ly instilled into the public mind. Centuries before 
Christ, money was found to be necessary. The Jews 
used many forms, substances or materials for money. 
For a long time they held it by weight, considering 
the stamp of no value. They did not seem to have 
‘ any confidence in any form of government they 
could adopt, or in its durability, nor did- they 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 89 


have confidence in themselves sufficient to take each 
others notes or obligations without collaterals. 
They demanded property for property, taking noth- 
ing on credit except accompanied with a bond which 
would hold the debtor in slavery, even to death, for 
the benefit of the creditors. Services were paid for 
in female children, in cattle, sheep or asses. 

For a long time cattle were held as ready money 
by the ancient Romans and Grecians, and were de- 
clared a legal tender for the payment of debts. In 
Rome seven hundred years before Christ, by edict 
of Pompilius, the legal tender money was made of 
two materials, wood and leather. The leather was 
the most valuable, while small pieces of wood, re- 
sembling button moulds, constituted the small 
change. 

Pompilius refused to place his stamp, by which 
money was created, upon gold and silver, consider- 
ing them too expensive to be used for such a pur- 
pose. He established a treasury department and 
gave his chief officer of finance the right to fix the 
stamp of the emperor upon pieces of white leather, 
and burn it upon circular pieces of the hardest vari- 
ety of wood that could be obtainec. Both kinds 
were legal tender for all debts. It was given by 
the king to all who served him, or furnished proper- 
ty. The man receiving it could pay it to the man 
he was indebted to, and by law it settled the debt. 
Thus it passed from hand to hand, until it came, 
through the tax collector, back into the treasury, 


90 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


when it was again paid out, and after due time again 
taken in. This was the money of Pompilius during 
his reign. 

Had he been as wise as our modern financiers, 
and as anxious for the interests of the people, when 
the wooden and leather money had reached the 
treasury, he would have refused to re-issue it, but 
would have ‘contracted the circulation” by de- 
stroying it, and have given to the holders interest 
bearing non-taxable bonds. He was not far-seeing 
enough to appreciate the blessing he would have 
conferred upon the people and their posterity, by 
plunging them into debt. He was woefully blind 
to the great truth—‘+ A national debt is a national 
blessing.” 

Had the kingdom of Pompilius been a republic, 
intended to endure forever, with no break in the 
law or power, with the people electing the presi- 
dents and the successors to administer the one di- 
rect, non-elastic law, there would have been no de- 
mand for othermoney, because property of all kinds 
could be accumulated with money made of wood 
and leather, as well as upon money made of gold 
or silver. 

The national banks deny the power of this sover- 
eign government of the people to create money of 
paper. They persistently refuse to recognize the 
greenback as absolute money, but name it as a 
debt to be paid in gold. They insist that money 
must have ‘intrinsic value” in its material, and that 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 91 


‘intrinsic value” makes it money, and not the 
stamp, decree, edict, or, if you please, the ‘ fiat” 
of the law. What made the wood and leather ef 
tome, money—‘‘ intrinsic value?” No, it was the 
edict, the “fiat” of Pompilius, as expressed and cer- 
tified by the stamp of the royal seal, affixed thereon 
by his decree. 

Woe would have been to the traitor who had dared 
to deny it. With it the commerce of Rome was 
carried on, her armies were equipped and maintain- 
ed, her public buildings were erected, her internal 
improvements achieved; with it her children were 
educated, and all her citizens fed, housed and cloth- 
ed. With money of wood and leather, Rome pros- 
pered, and pursued steadily her onward march to 
imperial greatness. 

The first sixty millions of treasury notes issued 
by the government of this country, were legal ten- 
der at their face value, for all debts without an ex- 
ception, and never for one hour, from the date of 
issue to the present time have they been less valua- 
ble than gold, but actually commanded a premium 
over gold on account of their greater convenience. 
The bankers recognize that fact,.and acknowledged 
them to be money, in the fullest sense of the term, 
by the very haste they made to obtain possession of, 
and hold them, and the frantic clamor they raised 
to prevent further issue of the same kind. Like 
Demetrius, the silversmith, they perceived their 
-eraft was in danger. 


99 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


The Carthagenians, for several generations used 
leather money, until there was such an abundance 
of gold and silver among the people that they did 
not know what to do with it, and so used it under 
the stamp of government as money. How was‘it 
that their ‘‘*cheap” leather money did not drive 
all the gold and silver away? That is what our ‘fi- 
nanciers,” with owl-like gravity, say would be the 
effect of our issuing ‘‘ cheap” paper money. 

In 1158, Frederick Barbarossa, during his con- 
test with Milan, carried on war and afterwards the 
industries of peace, with leather legal tender money. 
During this period gold was demonetized; was sim- 
ply property. King Johnof France, in 1360, issu- 
ed an immense quantity of leather money. William 
I, of Sicily, during periods of time between 1154 
and 1156 compelled the Sicilians to surrender their 
gold and silver and receive in exchange leather 
money, which was not redeemable in gold or silver, 
but possessed of full legal tender power. This broke 
up the gold ring of that country and gave the peo- 
ple a respite from usurers, so they became prosper- 

‘ous. The continued issue of them would have an- 
nihilated the gold ring here, and have forever eman- 
cipated labor from its burdensome and infamous 
exactions. 

Spain and Italy used leather money as late as 
1574. China, in the thirteenth century, used the 
middle bark of the mulberry tree stamped with a 
mark representing the signature of the sovereign 









































HON. W. D. VINCENT. 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 95 


who issued it. It was death to counterfeit or refuse 
it. In 1574 the Hollanders used pasteboard. In 
1635 the colonists of Massachusetts used wampum, 
as full legal tender, and musket balls as small change 
at a farthing each, and legal tender in sums under 
one shilling. Slaves, land, iron, bronze, brass, tin, 
pieces of cloth, and numerous other things have 
been used as money, at various times and places. 
- All served as, and were, money just as long as the 
law declared they should be legal tender for all 
debts. 

The republic of Venice for over four hundred 
years issued paper as its sole currency. It passed 
the world over, and commanded a premium of twen- 
ty-eight per cent over the money of any other coun- 
try, never for one moment depreciating. Venice 
received it, as she issued it, for all dues. History 
through all the centuries past, brands as false the 
wilful statements and juggling sophistries used in - 
behalf of ‘intrinsic value’ money, and conclusively 
proves that money is an absolute creation of the 
law, and ‘‘fiat” alone is the power that confers full 
debt paying quality. ’ 

Charles Moran, a distinguished French writer on 
political economy, says: ‘‘ Metalic money whilst 
acting as coin is identical with paper money in 
respect to being destitute of intrinsic value. Ccin, 
so long as it circulates for the purpose of buying 
and selling, for the time loses its intrinsie value. As 
commodities, gold and silver are capital, bret as 


96 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


money they are mere representatives of value.” Of 
paper money, he says: ‘‘The simplest and most 
perfect form of currency is that which represents 
transferable debt—paper money with no intrinsic 
value. It is only when states have reached a high 
state of civilization that they adopt this perfect sort 
of money.” 

Such men as Baron Rothschild, Fanchette, Isaac 
Buchanan, A. H. Gaston, Franklin, Jefferson, Wil- 
liam H. Harrison, Daniel Webster, and Buckles’ 
History of English Commerce, might be quoted as ~ 
to the effects of contraction, the unsuitability of a 
metalic currency, the power of the government to 
issue paper currency, etc. 

In speaking against the proposition to establish a 
United States national bank, Henry Clay said: «I 
conceive the establishment of this bank as danger- 
ous to the welfare and safety of this republic.” 

‘Specie basis,” is another bugbear flaunted be- 
fore us. Let us see what it amounts to. Bonamy 
Price, the English economist, says that the business 
of England is done with ninety-seven per cent bank 
checks, drafts, bills of exchange and notes; two and 
one-half per cent with paper currency, and fifty cents 
gold to every one hundred dollars of the aggregate 
business transactions. The same holds good in this 
country, yet our bankers speak of ‘specie basis,” 
and affect a horror of inflation of cheap paper in 
face of those facts. | | 

The interest of money loaners and banking syn- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 97 


dicates is to have money scarce; to have it of mate- 
rial the most costly possible: and if by any means 
it is likely to become otherwise, they will immedi- 
ately exert every effort to have it substituted with 
another kind. A strenuous effort is being made to 
suspend coinage of silver, in short, to drive it out 
of our monetary system. The mono-metalists insist 
that its presence there is dangerous to the business 
interests of the country, and that a wise regard for 
the preservation of those interests, and of course the 
prosperity of labor, demands that it be practically 
-demonetized. Hundreds of thousands of poor 
dupes swallow the bait, and believe in the sincerity 
of their motives. 

Baron Rothschild understands finance quite as 
well as our financiers, and says: ‘*The suppression 
(demonetization) of silver would amount to a veri- 
table destruction of values without any compensa- 
tion.” M. Wolowski, a European financier, says: @ 
“If by a stroke of the pen, they suppress one of 
their metals (gold or silver) in the monetary service, 
they double the demand for the other metal, to the 
ruin of all debtors.” The truth of these statements 
is self-evident. President Harrison, in his inaugu- 
ral speech, made the following remark: ‘If there 
be one measure better calculated than another to 
produce that state of things where the rich are daily 
_ getting richer, and the poor are daily getting poorer, 
it is a metalic currency.” 

‘What is this national banking system? Its foun- 


98 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


dation is the interest bearing, bonded indebtedness 
of the people, and upon the perpetuation of that 
debt its existence depends. The full legal tender 
power was taken from the treasury notes; they are 
not received for custom dues, or interest on the pub- 
lic debt, and they must be paid in gold. A law was 
passed to authorize the issuing of bonds, bearing in- 
terest, into which we can convert, or by which we 
can redeem the greenbacks. 

The foundation was now laid for a perpetual debt, 
to be saddled upon industry and serve as a basis for 
the banking system. Congress authorized the es- 
tablishment of a national system of banking upon 
the basis ot depositing the bonds with the United 
States treasurer, as security for our circulation: the 
bonds thus deposited to continue drawing interest, 
and to be exempt from all taxation. <A national 
currency was supplied to constitute our circulation, 
at the rate of ninety per cent of the face of the bond 
deposit. 

On the sale of bonds from 1862 to 1868, embrac- 
ing seven issues of six per cent, and one of five per 
cent bonds, according to a statistical table prepared, 
the people lost, and the. bondholders gained, the 
enormous sum of $678,551,460. In fifteen years, 
labor paid as interest on bonds, nearly $1,700,000,- 
000, and also paid to bankers and money lenders 
during the same period, as estimated by the Nation- 
al Banking Association, over $5,000,000,000. In 
twelve years of that time it was directly taxed over 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 99 


$1, 200,000,000, the amount of currency taken from 
the channels of trade and converted into idle, un- 
taxed bonds. The money so taken from circulation, 
was, at the behest of this grasping money power, 
never reissued, but cancelled and consigned to the 
flames. 

For further illustration, let us take the report of 
Hon. Wm. E. English, retiring from the presidency 
of the First National Bank of Indianapolis: «I | 
congratulate the officers and stockholders of our en- | 
terprise. The bank has been in operation fourteen 
years under my control, with a capital of $500,000. 
In the meantime it has voluntarily returned $500,- 
000 of capital stock back to its stockholders, besides 
paying them in dividends $1,496,250, a part of 
which was in gold. And I now turn it over to you, 
with a capital unimpaired, and $327,000 of undivid- 
ed earnings on hand. To this may be added the 
premiums of United States bonds, at present prices 
amounting to $36,000, besides quite a large amount 
_ for lost or destroyed bills.” 

Total amount of profit in fourteen years, on half 
a million dollars capital—$2, 383, 250 ! 

The whole burden rests upon the shoulders of 
labor, since labor alone can supply the means of 
‘paying the enormous tribute so pitilessly exacted. 
The cause of labor demands that the bonds be 
paid, that congress shall not delegate the control of 
ihe currency to any one class of citizens, or issue 


€ 


100 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


interest bearing obligations, and that a purely na- 
tional currency shall issue directly to the people, 
based upon the eredit of the people, a legal ten- 
der sufficient for commerce and productive in- 
dustry. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 101 


CHAPTER VI. 


TRANSPORTATION.! 


GOVERNMENT PREROGATIVES DANGEROUS IN THE HANDS 
OF CORPORATIONS—NO ONE CLASS INDEPENDENT— 
CORPORATIONS NOT ENTITLED TO DISCRIMINATION— 
THE COUNTRY SUFFERING FROM RAILROAD EXTOR- 
TIONS—-WHAT THE BALLOT SHOULD ACCOMPLISH— 
THE TELEGRAPHS — TELEPHONES—RAILROADS—THE 
GOVERNMENT’S SUCCESS WITH THE POSTAL SYSTEM—— 
THE POWER OF SYNDICATES AND CORPORATIONS—— 
THEIR IMMENSE WEALTH—DANIEL WEBSTER’S GREAT 
WARNING. 


THE opinion of the workingmen upon the subject 
of transportation, is fully expressed in the eigh- 
teenth section of the preamble of the principles de- 
clared by the Knights of Labor. In a recent ad- 
dress, Mr. J. R. Sovereign made the following re- 
marks: 

To delegate any of the prerogatives of republican 
government to private individuals or corporations, 


1 By J. R. Sovereign. L. A,, 2116, K. of L. 


102 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


is dangerous to national liberty and personal secur- 
ity. That the operation of the great agencies for 
transporting intelligence, passengers and freight, is 
clearly the duty of the government, can scarcely be 
doubted. For when we consider the fact that they 
control the destinies of the nation; that they are the 
mighty cords which bind us together as one people, 
we can only conclude that the rights, the liberty and 
the happiness of every citizen depends upon the 
operation of such agencies in such a way as will 
preclude the possibility of private interest menacing 
the public welfare. 

It is a great truth that no part of this nation pro- 
duces all the necessaries and comforts of life, and 
that no man produces with his own hands a suftici- 
ency to feed, clothe and house himself and those 
dependent upon him. Every toiler, then, marches 
to the music of machinery and the hum of industry, 
upon the hope that he can produce more of one par- 
ticular article than he wants for himself, and that 
he can distribute his surplus productions among 
men engaged in other vocations, and receive in 
exchange a just proportion of their productions. 

For instance, it is by this means, and this alone, 
that the farmers of the West are permitted to wear 
the clothing made in the East, and the weavers and 
clothing makers of the East are permitted to eat the 
bread raised in the West. 

In fact, the prosperity of every people may be 
measured not alone by their power to produce but 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 103 


by their opportunities to distribute as well. It is, 
therefore, one of the first duties of government to 
see that nowhere on the great highways of dis- 
tribution, shall the people be subjected to rank 
discriminations or unjust exactions. This prin- 
ciple is the corner stone of republican government, 
and the bed-rock of American society. With faith 
in the enforcement of this principle, the people have 
penetrated the dark forest and the-unbroken waste, 
reared great cities, built homes, erected factories 
and developed industries. 

How is this principle of justice to be guaranteed 
to every citizen of this great nation, and every stumb- 
ling stone which greed and avarice has erected 
upon the avenues of transportation to be re- 
moved # | 

There is but one method that will embody all the 
safe guards of justice, and that is for the govern- 
ment to become the owner and operator of all tele- 
graphs, telephones and railroads. 

Ah! but says some one, there is an easier way and 

shorter road to a remedy for all these evils. Let 
the corporations continue to own the telegraphs, 
telephones and railroads, and the government con- 
trol them by statutory enactment. 

Municipal law, says a great jurist, is the rule of 
civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a 
state, commanding what is right and prohibiting 
what is wrong. And while [ hold this definition to 
' be true, yet there is not a teacher in jurisprudence, 


7 


104 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


there is not a practitioner at the bar, nor a judge on 
the bench, who will not freely confess that to combine 
private interests with government functions and pub- 
lic agencies, jeopardizes liberty and places the ad- 
ministration of justice outside of the pale of statu- 
tory enactments. 

To combine corporate interests with public insti- 
tutions always involves the government in an irre- 
pressible conflict and a never-ending struggle for su- 
premacy, and is always a question of doubt with the 
people, as to whether the government controls ‘he 
corporations, or the corporations control the govern- 
ment. Viewed in the light of history, this doubt is 
dispelled by a preponderance of evidence showing 
that corporations control the government. 

In solving the powers of government, we must not 
forget that there are impossibilities in law, and the 
benefits of a law depends upon the power of a gov- 
ernment to enforce it in spirit, without giving life to 
others and more dangerous eyils. 

To-day our people are suffering from railroad ex- 
tortions. Let our government pass a law prohibit- 
ing such extortions, and, if need be, enforce it with 
the strong arm of the military, and who will prevent 
the railroad companies from retaliating with a pro- 
portionate reduction of the wages of their employes. 
Who will prevent them from wreaking their venge- 
ance upon the law by discharging free American 
laborers, and contracting in a great measure the me- 
chanical operation of the roads with Polish, Italian 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 105 


and Hungarian serfs? It is folly to say we can pre- 
vent such an evil by prohibiting the importation of 
foreign serfs, for the serfs are already here in count- 
less numbers, and are ready to bow at the bidding 
of corporate greed. , 

Let our government enact a law preventing rail- 
roads from discriminating against persons and _lo- 

calities, and who shall have authority and power to 
_ prevent the railroad companies from engaging in 
mining, manufacturing and other industries, and 
put their own products on the market at such prices 
as to force into bankruptcy all opposition. Ah! 
says one, under such circumstances could not the 
government resort to the Missouri law, and the laws 
of other states, prohibiting railroad companies from 
engaging in any other business than the operation 
of their roads? Yes, we could resort to a great 
many farces. How often has this power of govern- 
ment been tested and found too tardy to meet the 
demands of justice? Nearly a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago our law-makers framed out to opulent and 
arrogant corporations, the monetary prerogatives of 
the nation. In that law is combined private gain 
with the functions of government. But the govern- 
ment sought to control it in the interests of the peo- 
ple by statutory enactment, which provided among 
other restrictions that no national bank should charge 
or receive a greater rate of interest than that pre- 
scribed by the laws of the state in which the bank 


was operated, and that no national bank should re- 
8 i 


106 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ceive real estate security for the loan of its notes. 
How is that law respected and obeyed ? 

As an expression of their defiance of law and the 
expressed will of the people, a little office adjacent 
to nearly every national bank in the land, is appro- 
priately furnished, and in these private offices you 
will find the cappers of the banks who loan the 
funds of the banks under the pretense of private ac- 
count, at from one to two per cent per month, and on 
real estate security. Here is a striking illustration 
of the inability of the government to control public 
institutions when combined with private interests. 
They have defied law, they have clasped their icy 
fetters about the throats of presidents, and now 
openly boast that, on a single day’s notice, they can 
act together with such power that no act of con- 
gress can resist their demands. 

Let our government attempt to control lesan ie 
telephones and railroads while they are permeated 
with corporate greed, and who shall be the giant to 
march forth upon the plain of equal and exact jus- 
tice, and wring out the four billion dollars of wa- 
tered stocks which the confederate monopolies of to- 
day are using, as an instrument of torture and a har- 
binger of slavery, that their own coffers may be fill- 
ed with ill-gotten gains? Legislate to control 
these agencies, and leave the ownership where it 
now is, and what power under heaven will prevent 
them from becoming the bulwarks of every politi- 
cal contest? While this remains a free govern- 


AYAN 
AAA\Y 
Y 
\ 


AN 


x 
SS 


\ 


eAyS 





AN AWAY 


hat 
AAAS 
= Yh 
4 \ \ \ 





\ 


HON. HENRY SMITH, 
State Master Workman, K. of L., Wig. 


eight st 


P) 


- 
= 


alae 4 
ry - 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 109 


ment, what law can prevent them sending a hired 
lobby of cunning sharpers to the council chambers 
of the nation, to corrupt courts and bribe legisla- 
tures. It is the first duty of government to obtain 
possession by purchase of all these agencies. 
> Let us turn our attention for a moment, to one of 
the avenues of public distribution from which the 
government has served private ownership. Refer- 
ence is made to the postal service. During all the, 
time the government has operated the mail routes, 
we never hear of postoffices combining to harangue 
the people ’in political contests, except the mere 
clamor for office. We never hear of a postoffice 
lobby in Washington. We never hear of the post- 
offices charging more for a ‘short haul” than fora 
‘long haul.” We never hear of the postoftices wa- 
tering stocks. We never hear of them discriminat- 
ing against localities. We never hear of them send- 
ing abroad for the paupers of the old world to take 
the place of free labor. We never hear of them 
spending millions of dollars per year, to subsidize 
the press and deceive the people. 
And nowcomes the question: Is the transmission 
of human intelligence upon paper, any more the 
duty of government than the transmission of life 
and property @ | » 

Is human thought more sacred when inscribed up- 
on paper,than when upon the electric wires it flash. 
es across the continent in the twinkling of an 
eye. 


€ 





110 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


During all the timethe government has operated 
the postal service you never heard of the em- 
ployes of that department going on a strike. On 
the other hand yor never heard the people com- 
plain of excessive rates or extortionate charges in 
the transmission of the mails. But how different 
is the feeling and the situation,when applied to the 
railroads, the telegraphs and the telephones, every- 
thing is confusion and dissatisfaction. While the 
employes are striking for increased wages, the peo- 
ple are threatening confiscation, or a return to the 
old stage coach system, as a possible refuge from 
the grasp of monopoly. 

Nowhere is there a single instance where the gov 
ernment has succeeded in controlling a public in- 
stitution in the interests of the people while it em- 
braced private ownership. 

This government started out in life on the basis 
that a white man could have ownership in the flesh 
and blood of a black man, and all that was necessa- 
ry was to control it by law, but that evil corrupted 
législation, and defied the will of the people, until it 
costs millions of lives and _ billions of treasury to 
subdue it. 

In 1791 our gevernment started a bank with $10,- 
000,000 capital. Four-fifths of it was private prop- 
erty, and it nearly choked the life out of the gov- 
ernment. It had to be abolished to save our free 
institutions. 

In 1816 our law makers were induced to try the 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. seat 


experiment-again, and another bank was establish- 

ed with $35,000,000 capital, four-fifths of which 

was private property, but it darkened American 

freedom and became so oppressive that in 1832, 

Jackson had to put his foot on the neck of the mon- 
ster and crush the life out of it. Then that func- 

tion of the government was turned over to state 

banks, and they nearly bankrupted the nation. 

The national banks of to-day have become so 
haughty and powerful, that they can grasp the arm 
of the president of the United States, as they did a 
few years ago, and compel him to veto a bill which 
was passed in the interest of the people. But what 
has all this to do with the operation of the railroads, 
or the telegraph and telephones. It shows the weak- 
ness of the law and the power of corporations, and 
the dangers which threaten the liberties of the peo- 
ple,when private interests are combined with public 
institutions. Our government has gone further than 
the mere attempt to control a railroad. A few years 
ago our government formed the acquaintance of a 
railroad magnate and his company, and the govern- 
ment gave them a strip of land forty miles wide, 
extending from the Missouri river to the Pacific 
coast, then the government loaned them $16,000 on 
every mile of road they built. Then the govern- 
ment released the lands and bonds from taxation. 
Yet, with all this publie charity, that railroad has 
‘become a robber of the people and an oppressor of 
the poor. Not only that, but they nearly annihilat- 


ey THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ed the government’s claim, by slipping a first mort- 
gage under it, and for years they have refused to pay 
even the interest on the loan the government, gave 
them, and to-day more than $50,000,000 of interest 
remains unpaid. 

Their last great act of charity that came under my 
personal notice, was when the leading officers crossed 
this country in their gold mounted cars, and drank 
their fine wines and whisky under the dazzling ban- 
ners which bore the motto of ‘‘Victory.” Under 
the present administration, we have a railroad law 
that the angels in Heaven cannot tell what it means, 
and we have five railroad lawyers to execute that 
law. 

Give us statesmen who have the honor, and the 
will, to spurn the flattery of these corporations, and 
can damn their devilish treachery without flinch- 
ing. | 

For many years past it has been the custom of 
the people to donate large sums to aid in the con- 
struction of railroads. In many localities the people 
have taxed themselves poor for this very purpose. 
Millions upon millions of dollars have gone into the 
pockets of railroad companies from this source. But 
no sooner did the railroad companies receive these 
donations, than they rated them with their own cap- 
ital stock, and as soon as the roads were in running 
order the people were forced to pay dividends on 
their own donations. It is not just that a man who 
donates $100 to aid in the construction of a railroad 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 113 


to-day, shall be assessed to pay a dividend on that 
same $100 to-morrow, and when he is dead and gone, 
his children to be assessed on their father’s charity. 
But what is worse, the railroads no sooner get the $100 
you donate them, than they water it 100 per cent, and 
assess you to pay a dividend on $200,when you only 
donated $100. ' 

It is, therefore, clear to every investigating mind 
that there are scores of evils growing out of the 
present mode of operating the public agencies of 
distribution, which cannot be remedied except the 
people take them in their own hands. 

_ The best results the people can hope for, under 
any attempt to control by lawthe agencies of trans- 
portation without government ownership, is that 
they will be put on the same commercial basis with 
mining, manufacturing, agriculture and other indus- 
tries. Put the telegraphs, telephones and railroads 
under such restrictions only, and the same tenden- 
ciestowards centralization from which we suffer to- 
day will still continue. And why? Simply because 
these agencies are public institutions—they are of 
such a character that sixty millions of people are 
by force of circumstances compelled to patronize 
them, and they are owned and controlled by the few. 
Thus we have every element of concentration. Give 
aman the exclusive ownership of the postal system, 
and place it on the same remunerative basis 
with other industries, and in less than titty years he 
will own nine-tenths of the wealth of the nation, 


114 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


and nine-tenths of the people will be his servants 
and he will be their master. Private gain must 
not be the motive for operating a public institution. 
For so surely as it is, will Daniel Webster’s great 
warning be realized, ‘‘ Liberty cannot long endure 
in any country where the tendency of legislation is 
to concentrate wealth in the hands of the few.” 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 115 


CHAPTER VII. 


“OVERPRODUCTION.” 


THERE CAN BE NO OVERPRODUCTION WHEN MONEY IS 
PLENTY—SCARCITY OF MONEY PRODUCES STRIKES AND 
RIOTS—-WHY MONEY IS WITHDRAWN .FROM CIRCULA- 
TON—LINCOLN’S WARNING IN 1861—ovVERPRODUCT- 
ION DOES NOT STARVE CHILDREN—INTEREST ON BONDS 
A GREAT VAMPIRE TO THE NATION—BONDS TAXED IN 
ENGLAND AND FRANCE—GEN. WEAVER ON TAXATION 
—THE INTER-STATE COMMERCE LAW—REPORT OF THE 
SILVER COMMISSIONERS — PLAIN FACTS — SHOWING 
MADE BY UNITED STATES TREASURER IN 1887 OF THE 
NATIONS MONEY—IDLE CAPITAL MAKES IDLE MA- 
CHINERY AND THE WORKINGMAN SUFFERS. 


Tue cry that ‘overproduction produces: these 
hard times,” is a farce. There would be no over- 
production of cereals, clothing or any other com- 
modity, if we had a sufficient amount of money in 
circulation. If men are on the verge of starvation 
—half-paid and large families to keep, how can 


1 By Hon. William Baker 


re gd EME OW abe OY, Mn ace ee a beers pa a se SP BN IY So eA a ac 


116 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


they get the money to buy a sufficient amount of 
clothing? If clothing, cereals and produce are’ 
not bought for the want of money among the labor- 
ing class, then overproduction must follow. 

With wages hardly enough to support families 
and nothing to buy clothing, manufactures must 
stop, or if they run on half-time and at reduced 
wages, then dissatisfaction is followed by strikes 
and riots. If laborers get good wages they are gen- 
erous with the distribution of their money. Instead 
of mending up old garments they get new. There 
never was ‘‘overproduction” with plenty of money 
in circulation. Not more than one-third of the mon- 
ey in the country is in’ circulation. Over five hun- 
dred million dollars are locked up in the United States 
treasury, the rest is in the banks, and in the vaults 
of insurance companies, to loan at usurious rates. 
When money is scarce, interest increases—when 
plenty, it decreases. As long as men can loan their 
money at frofn 6 to 10 per cent, they will hoard 
their money to loan. 

If a law was passed, allowing only four per 
cent interest, money would leave its hiding 
places. It would invest in realty, manufac- 
tures and other channels of trade, wages would 
go up, and the busy hum of industry would 
be heard throughout the republic. Nothing pays 
as well as money at a high rate of interest. 
The capitalists know this, and do all they can to 
cramp the money market so as to create a higher 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. BLY. 


rate of interest. If farmers borrow money at over 
five per cent it will eat them up, as farming as a 
rule will not pay over three per cent. Muchis said 
about paying the national debt. The debt cannot 
be paid under the present national banking sys- 
tem. 

Let the government cease to issue any more bonds 
to the banks, issue none but legal tender money. 
Call in the National Banks’ money as soon. as their 
charters lapse, reduce by law the rate of interest to 
four per cent, keep the circulation up to fifty dol- 
lars per capita. Do this, and panics will be un- 
known—strikes a thing of the past, and prosperity 
and contentment will cease only with the Republic. 

Venice had one hundred dollars per capita, and 
for six hundred years down to the time that 
Napoleon crossed her Lagoon, and destroyed a 
republic which had kept the civilized world at bay 
for thirteen hundred years, she never had a failure. 
England with her irredeemable currency and a large 
~ per capita circulation, during her Napoleonic war 
of eighteen years, enjoyed a prosperity she never 
had before or since. Failures were unknown, the 
hum of industries was heard throughout the day, 
and the midnight sky was brightened by the glow of 
hot furnaces. ‘Each day a link is forged in the 
change which makes labor subservient to cap- 
ital.” | 

Abraham Lincoln in 1861 warned the people to 
watch, lest capital be put above labor. He said: 


118 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


‘‘T bid the laboring people beware of surrendering 
a power which they already possess, and which sur- 
rendered will surely be used to close the doors of 
advancement to such as they, and fix new disabilities 
and burdens upon them until all liberty is lost.” 
We must be on our guard. We hear the muffled 
sounds of discontent. We had better heed the warn- 
ing voice of Lincoln, and not stand like abject slaves 
and tremble before the marble face of power. 

The laboring class are battling for their rights. 
‘Tt is billions of money against millions of men.” 
The people must settle their difficulties through the 
ballot, not by the bayonet, and their strikes by arbi- 
tration, not by riots. Unity of action is indispensa- 
ble to success. Let not cunning Catilines mislead 
you. Select those whom you can trust to defend 
your cause. Rare scholastic attainments and brilli- 
ancy of mind are not required. Good judgment, and 
a clear perception of right and wrong, is a better 
equipment for a public officer than eloquence or 
polished manners. No nation can prosper with our 
limited circulation, cornered as it is by demagogues, 
to raise the interest, cramp the people, and to sell 
their homes. 

We want no more such scenes as red flags in the 
sheriff’s hands, as pitiless for humanity as the black 
flags of the pirates. We want no more to see chil- 
dren driven from their homes, with bony hands ex- 
tended heavenward, with sunken eyes, pallid 
cheeks, but gnawed by the pangs of hunger, piteous- 


Sa Og ee 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 119 


ly exclaiming, ‘“‘We’ve got no home! Oh, God, 
we've got no home!” We want, with the keys of 
Justice, to unlock the coffers of the nation, by pay- 
ing the bonds now almost due, that times may ease 
and happy homes and comfort once more reign. 

We must either have an income tax, so as to com- 
pel the untaxed bondholders to help the poor liquid- 
ate the enormous taxes, or pass a law not to allow 
over four per cent. The capital which seeks hiding 
places for the purpose of contracting the currency, 
so as to increase the rate of interest, would then 
pass into the channel of trade. If those in power 
will not do that, then recall the bonds. We have 
paid them over and over again. 

Ina speech in 1870, delivered by Hon. Daniel 
Voorhees, he said: ‘‘I think it safe to say, that up to 
the present time the bondholders have realized in 
bonds and interest, not less than $4,000,000, 000. 
There is nothing parallel to it in the history of. con- 
stitutional government. In what government, or land, 
governed by written law, willthe explorer of other 
countries find such a wholesale plunder of the people. 
Where else, than in this land.of professed equality, 
_has wealth ever committed a crime against industry 
and liberty, of such huge proportions as towers up 
in our midst, and darkens the homes of our people 
with its cruel and unjust demands? The funding of 
the bonds though the interest be lessened, will not 
relieve labor of its oppressive taxation. The mort- 
gage of the bondholder on all their homes and farms 


- 


120 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


will still continue. Their children, and their chil- 
-dren’s children will be subject to the same undimin- 
ished burdens. Interest, interest, with its frightful 
accumulation will compel the tax payer to pay it 
over and over again, and yet it will never be can- 
celled. The principle of funding, established an in- 
exhaustible mine of gold forthe bondholders, and 
an eternity of hopeless toil for the people. On the 
chancery side of the court, there is always relief to be 
found against an extortionate transaction. This is 
a well known principle between individuals. It will 
hold good also in behalf of a whole people. They 
_ have been imposed upon, and defrauded in the cre- 
ation of the debt, and they may justly and without 
breach of contract appeal to the greater equity of 
the case. Do we live in the days of the Medes and 
Persians, when it was an offense punishable with 
death to repeal a law once enacted?” 

In this land of boasted freedom, the moneyed pow- 
er imposes laws upon the working class more unjust, 
than those of France or England. Heath says: ‘¢In 
both England and France, the government obliga- 
tions are taxed pro rata with all other investments, 
and have to bear their proportions of the public bur- 
dens, while in America they are exempt from all 
taxation, thus throwing their entire burden upon 
those who reap no profit from them.” Is it not a 
disgrace that such a law is not repealed? Is it any 
wonder that the people are gppressed? Statistics 
show that our mortgages aggregate $800,000,000, 


SSS 
so 


SSS 
SS 
ee. 


SSS 
> 
SSO 





J. R. SOVEREIGN, 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. eS 


that the average interest is 8 per cent, which 
per annum amounts to over six hundred million dol- 
lars. : 

General Weaver says ‘‘that we are in debt twenty 
billions of dollars, out of say, six billions of dollars 
of wealth, that the lowest average tax is 64 per cent, 
and that on twenty billions of dollars,itis one billion 
three hundred thousands of dollars of simple interest, 
say nothing of compound interest, that the people 
are paying on national, state, corporate, municipal 
and private indebtedness, that the annual net in- 
crease of wealth of this nation is scarcely 8 per cent, 
but call it three, and that on sixteen billions of dol- 
lars is one billion, eight hundred thousand dollars, 
and you pay in usury alone, simple interest, one 
billion, three hundred thousand dollars of it to 
money loaners, then add interest, then extortionate 
charges of railroads, then add the enormous rentals 
paid by the laboring poor, and you find you haven’t 
a farthing left to add to the wealth of this country 
as a whole.” 

There is another power weneed to fear besides the 
banks and bonds, a power that by the stroke of the 
pen can increase or decrease the price on every 
thing we eat or wear. It is the railroads with their 
power of wealth. To hushthe general cry on such 
abuse which railroads have imposed, congress passed 
an inter-state commerce law that would have raked 
the brains of Coke, Blackstone, Kent, Grotius, Vat- 
tel oreven Mucius Sceevola, the greatest lawyer 


124 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


then in Rome, whose pupil was the great Cicero, who 
once did wield the palm of eloquence, to decipher 
it. Thelawsays: ‘Shall not chargemore fora short 
haul than along haul under substantially similar 
circumstances and conditions over the same line run- 
ning in the same direction.” If a poor man is in- 
jured, what chance has he in the upper courts, he must 
then perchance to five commissioners appeal,who in 
a Trojan horse perchance will sit, with paid retainers 
to favor my lords, the kings of railroad fame. 

In 1874 the United States senate committee on_ 
transportation routes said: In the matter of tax- 
ation there are four men representing the four great — 
trunk lines between Chicago and New York, who ex- 
ercise power which the congress of the United States 
would not venture to exert. An additional charge 
of 5 per cent per bushel on the transportation of 
cereals, would have been equivalent to a tax of forty- 
five millions of dollars on the crop of 1873; thatthe 
day is not far distant, if it has not already arrived, 
when it will be the duty of the statesmen to inquire 
whether there is less danger in leaving the proper 
and industrial interests of the people thus wholly 
atthe mercy of a few men who recognize no respon- 
sibility but to their stockholders, and no principle 
of action, but personal and corporate aggrandize- 
ment, than in adding somewhat to the power and 
“patronage of a government directly responsible to 
the people and entirely under their control.” 

General Weaver says, ‘‘That Iowa and in Illinois 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 125 


farmers are yearly losing money that the enormous 
rates of transportation has made them poor, and that 
the railroads make out of every dollar of their gross 
earnings, thirty-six cents out of every dollar, which 
represents actual profit.” Whereis there a farmer 
who makes annually over four per cent? The na- 
tional banks themselves are dangerous. They hold 
the purse that means the sword. They tell the gov- 
ernment that if they dare to make laws against their 
rights, they will make such a combination that panics 
will ensue. No more right have they to thus hold 
the purse and sword, than brigadier generals the 
right to make war or peace. Besides that, these 
railroad kings have 1,800,000 employes under their 
command, six times more than Napoleon had,when 
he disposed of crowns and kingdoms, and made all 
Europe tremble. Forty times more than Alexander, 
or Oxsar, or Pompey commanded. This shows the 
wealth which they possess. 

People, and those who ought to know better, re- 
peatedly exclaim, ‘‘Oh! there is as much money in 
the country as ever.” Ifthey would take the trouble 
to examine Secretary Bristow’s statement under the 
head of Destruction Account, they would be shocked 
at the amount of money destroyed. General Logan 
in 1874, said in congress, that the circulating medium 
had been diminished $1,018,167,784. To show the 
terrible effect the contraction of the currency has 
had, take the report.of the silver commission of the 
second session of the 44th congress, which commis- 


126 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


sion consisted of Messrs. John P. Jones, Lewis V. 
Bogy and Geo. M. 8. Boutwell, of the senate; Ran- 
dall L. Gibson, Geo. Williard and Richard Bland, of 
the house of representatives; Hon. W. Groesbeck, 
of Ohio; Prof. Francis Bowen, of Massachusetts; 
and Geo. M. Weston, of Maine. They said: 
‘©The loss which this country sustains by the 
‘‘shrinking of money is awful. The depression in pro- 
‘ductive industries will become more deathly, and 
‘the number of idle laborers will indefinitely in- 
‘crease. The loss which this country sustains by 
‘the enforced idleness of three millions of persons, 
‘who although idle, must still, in some scanty way, 
‘be supplied with food, clothing, and shelter, is in 
‘“agoregate, very great. If it be estimated at one 
‘dollar a day, for each laborer it would amount in 
“two years to a sum sufficient to discharge the na- 
‘tional debt. It would pay the interest at 5 per 
“cent perannum on eighteen thousand millions of 
‘dollars. It would be a sum more than sufficient to 
‘supply anew each year, the circulating medium of 
‘the country. Itwould amount in four years toa 
‘‘oreater sum than the world’s entire gold produc- 
‘tion, in the last fifty prolific years. It would ag- 
““oregate in ten years far greater than the value of 
‘the world’s entire product of both gold and sil- 
“ver, for the last hundred years. It would amount 
‘dn four years, to a sum more than sufficient to du- 
‘plicate, and stock every mile of railroad now in 
‘the United States. No more fatal blow, therefore. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 127 


‘could be directed against the economical machinery 
‘cof civilized life, than one against labor, and _ that 
‘blow can most effectually be delivered through a 
‘policy that strikes down prices. If all debts in 
“this country had been doubled by an act of legisla- 
‘ture, it would have been a far less calamity tothe 
‘debtor and to the country than the increase of their 
‘real burden already caused by a contraction in the 
‘volume of money. Indeed this country could bet- 
‘ter afford,in an economical view to support one mil- 
‘Jion of soldiers in the field, than to support its 
‘present army of three millions, that fallen prices 
‘shave conscripted into the ranks of non-producers. 
‘Without money, civilization could not havea be- 
‘coinning with a diminished supply, it must languish 
' sand unless relieved finally perish. It is a volume 
‘cof money keeping even pace with advancing pop- 
‘ulation and commerce, and in the resulting steadi- 
‘ness of prices, that the wholesome nutriment of a 
‘chealthy vitality isfound. The highest moral, intel- 
‘‘lectual, and material development of nations is 
‘promoted by the use of money unchanging in its 
‘tvalue.” : : 

One can see from the above report what money 
does and the power it has. In 1865 we paid the 
government in taxes three hundred and thirty-two 
million dollars. Last year three hundred and thir- 
ty-six million. What means these figures? We 
are told the debt is being quickly paid and four- 


128 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


teen million dollars more of taxes than in 1865. . 
We have over five hundred million dollars in our 
national vaults, and manufactures stopped, and mon- 
ey scarce, and working men crying for bread. 
Still it flows in, three hundred and thirty thous- 
and dollars a day, ten million dollars in one month, 
and in one year, at least, one hundred and twenty 
million dollars more than used for expenditures 
and appropriations. Without stand the grinning > 
Shylocks, like the one at Rialto, demanding his 
pound of flesh, amid this cry of hunger and of woe. 
Look in the vaults with a prophetic eye and see 
what they contain. 

The Iowa Tribune says, ‘‘On the 18th of July, 
1887, the statement of the United States treasury 
showed gold, silver, United States nutes and other 
funds in the treasury, as follows: 


Gold coin and bullion.............$178, 719,037 
Silver dollars and bullion.......... 215,716,600 
Trade dollars redeemed............ | 7,025,852 
Fractional ‘silver: coin i-%, 2.4... 20,0080 ae 
United States notes............... 28,618,449 
National bank notes*o. 35 ae a 203,993 
National bank notes in process of re- 

demphony oe ux aout 2 O0R. Ode 
Deposits with national Mae depos- 
ItOTLOS se SO) oe ser eet eae Oat os 





— 


Potalte: Oe VA Gly Loe, oon 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 129 


CERTIFICATES OUTSTANDING: 


Gold ae cesar ae oe ie ww, 90s C04, OOT. 
DELVOR: ctortiys ene es erat en ot L423, 278,781 


Currency 3... = Di ea hie sel Mae's. cow Vee 8,750, 000 


Total...........$248, 792,848 
Balance available cash........$328,959,632 


‘¢That sum enables the Secretary to redeem at 
once the $250,000,000 of four and one-half bonds 
now outstanding, and $50,000,000 of the fours. The 
four and halfs have four years to run, and the an- 
nual interest is $11,250,000, to redeem them would 
save the people $45,000,000. The interest on $50,- 
000,000 fours is $2,000,000 a year, and they run 
twenty years, so the saving on them would be $40- : 
000,000. These two items foot up $85,000,000, which 
Secretary Fairchild can save the people of the coun- 
try, besides relieving the pressure in money mat- 
ters, by putting $300,000,000 out of the vaults of 
the treasury into circulation. The law authorizes 
this act.” 

Any one can readily see what this country would 
save by the redemption of the bonds. It would not 
only lessen taxes, increase trade, but make times 
good. Idle capital is like idle machinery. When idle, 
neither produce anything. | We not only lose the 
interest of the money in the vaults, but what it 
would produce if put into circulation, besides mak- 


130 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 5 


ing homes once more bright and happy, seeing every 
arm once more employed, and all the avenues of 
trade exulting with the shouts and peans of victor- 
ious labor. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. A31t 


CHAPTER VIII. 


HARD TIMES. 


THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR AT RICHMOND—A COMMITTEE 
ON HARD TIMES—THEIR REPORT-—THE INTRICACIES 
OF DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH—-AN ANALYSIS OF THE 
SUBJECT—SENATOR SHERMAN’S IDEAS IN 1869—sounNn 

_ A. LOGAN’S THRORY—THE UNITED STATES TREASURER 
In 1820—JOHN STUART MILL, THE GREAT ENGLISH 
ECONOMIST — SIR ARCHIBALD WILSON — SECRETARY 
M’CULLOCH — BOUTWELL — THE BURNING OF $100,- 
000,000—PETER COOPER ON INDUSTRIAL DEPRESSION 
—THE FLUCTUATION OF FINANCES THE CAUSE OF HARD 
TIMES—-A STEADY STANDARD A FIRM FOUNDATION. 


At the general assembly of the Knights of Labor 
held at Richmond, Va., October, 1886, a commit- 
tee was appointed to investigate and report upon 
the question of hard times. The committee was 
composed of able men, chosen from five states, viz.: 
John Davis, Kansas; Richard F. Trevelick, Mich.; 
J. R. Sovereign, Iowa; John H. Conner, La.; and 
James Collins, Pa.; and their report contains inter- 
esting matter upon the financial and industrial de- 


132 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


pression which the workingmen find is laid heavily 
upon them. The report is a succinct commentary 
on the general situation, and may be justly termed 
a chapter of practical political economy. They re- 
ported as follows: 

In examining our subject, we discover that the 
more civilized nations of the earth, including the 
people of the United States, find themselves face to 
face withthe problem of their existence and contin- 
ued progress. 

The problem of savagery is plain and simple. It 
comprehends physical force and personal prowess 
only. It means ‘‘to the vicious belong the spoils,” 
and death or slavery, to the vanquished. The prob- 
lem of civilization is more complex, yet the state- 
ment of itis short. The great Victor Hugo, of 
France, has stated the problem of civilization in 
these words: ‘‘The creation of wealth and the dis- 
tribution of wealth.” 

The people of the United States, acted @ and 
other civilized nations, create wealth magnificently, 
but they distribute it oadly. So perfect and so rapid is 
the creation of wealth in recent times, that the first 
half of the problem of civilization may be considered 
solved. ‘The last half of the problem is still before 
us, as much unsolved as in the crudest conditions of 
savagery. Among the more civilized nations, in- 
cluding the people of the United States, we find 
whole classes of the creators of wealth suffering ina 
state of the most abject poverty and want, while 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 133 


other classes that are not creators of wealth at all 
have accumulated such enormous amounts of the 
earnings of labor, that their presence in society has 
‘become absolutely dangerous to the liberties of the 
people. | 

What, then, are the intricacies and difficulties 
connected with the distribution of created wealth in 
civilized society? Let us analyze the subject. The 
distribution of created wealth consists of two parts: 
The change of place of commodities, and the change 
of title to commodities. What are the agents and 
implements in the performance of these functions 
and transactions? For the change of place of com- 
modities we use wagons, boats and cars; for sim- 
plicity, let us say, we use wheels. For the change 
of title,we use dollars. 

Now suppose that in the transportation of com- 
modities from producer to consumer, there are 
wheels enough in existence and in motion; the trans- 
portation goes on smoothly andnormally. In the 
midst of this felicitous and prosperous condition of 
things, let some tinseen power withdraw or suppress 
one-half, or one-fourth of the wheels. The result is 
disastrous in the extreme. Producers cannot deliver 
their commodities, and suffer in consequence; con- 
sumers cannot receive the commodities, that they 
desire, nor the necessities that must sustain their 
lives. Society is afflicted with congestion and paraly- 
sis in all its parts; and, if the unseen interference con- 
tinues, confusion and suffering must continue. 


134 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


What is the remedy? Plainly this: Restore the 
wheels and, for the future, add wheels as the exi- 
gencies of transportation shall require. 

On the matter of the change of title to the com- 
modities, suppose that a requisite number of dollars 
are in existence and floating, and that the buying and 
selling of commodities is proceeding normally and 
smoothly—that the requisite change of title to com- 
modities is practicable, in accordance with the neces- 
sities of society. Now suppose that some unseen 
power shall withdraw one-half, or one-fourth of the 
dollars, what is the result. The same as that seen 
when part of the wheels were withdrawn. There 
can be no general change of title to commodities, 
except upon the most disadvantageousterms. There 
must be a general over-loading of the remaining 
dollars which is recognized as a general reduction, 
or fallof prices. Falling prices means general de- 
pression of trade and industry; and loss and distress 
among all classes engaged in changing title to com’ 
modities are the inevitable results. As titles to articles 
cannot be safely exchanged, change of title must 
cease, or proceed under very adverse circumstances, 
and so imperfectly that society must suffer the most 
severe distress. 

So insidious and so deceptive are the processes 
and results of the withdrawal of the money of so. 
ciety, that your committee beg leave to introduce 
authorities on this important part of the subject. 
First, we refer to the language of the United States. 


A 
AW 


oH 


\\ 
AY 


2: 


ey, 
22; 





SIS 
SS 
SS S 
SS 


ER. 
BAK 
WILLIAM 

HON. 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. | Casfe 


monetary report of 1877, respecting the depression 
of industry then existing, as follows: 


The true and only cause of the stagnation in in- 
dustry and commerce now everywhere felt, is the 
fact now everywhere existing of falling prices 
caused by ashrinking volume of money. This is the 
great cause. All others are collateral, cumulative, 
or really the effect of that cause. 


Speaking of the progressive contraction of the 
currency then going on, Senator John Sherman, in 
1869, said: | 


The contraction of the currency is a far more dis- 
tressing thing than senators suppose. Our own and 
other nations have gone through that process be- 
fore. It is not possible to take that voyage without 
the sorest distress; to every person except a capital- 
ist out of debt, a salaried officer, or an annuitant, 
it is a period of loss, danger, lassitude of trade, fall 
of wages, suspension of enterprise, bankruptcy and 
disaster. To attempt this, is to impose upon our 
people, by arresting them in the midst of their law- 
ful business, and applying a new standard of value to 
their property, without any reduction of their debts 
or giving them any opportunity to compound with 
their creditors, or to distribute their losses, and 
would be an act of folly without an example of evil 
in modern times. 


Speaking of the long continued and disastrous 
depression existing in 1874, Senator John A. 
Logan said: ‘It is a money famine and nothing 
else.” 


In his great speech of March 17, 1874, Senator 
10 


1388 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Logan quoted approvingly from Hon. Isaac Bu- 
chanan, of Ontario, Canada, as follows: 

It is seen that the question of money, and the ques- 
tion of labor, are one and the same question, the so- 
lution of one being the solution of the other; plenti- 
ful, and therefore cheap money, being a convertible 
term for plentiful and well paid employment. 

Wm. H. Crawford, secretary of the United States 
treasury, in 1820, said: ‘+All intelligent writers on 
currency agree that when it is decreasing in amount, 
poverty and misery must prevail.” 

John Stuart Mill, a great English economist, 
states: 

Ifthe whole money in circulation was doubled, 


prices would double. Ifit was increased one-fourth, 
prices would increase one-fourth. 


Ricardo, of England, says: 


That commodities would rise and fall in price in 
proportion to the diminution of money, I assume as 
a fact that is incontrovertible; that such would be the 
case, the most celebrated writers are agreed. 


Your committee have been absolutely over. 
whelmed and embarrassed by the volume of testi- 
mony accessible, showing that, as tersely stated by 
President Grant, “Prices keep pace with the volume 
of money;” and, with this mass of available material, 
we have selected only the best known American and 
English authors. 

We call special attention to the following addition- 


THE VOICE. OF LABOR. 139 


al testimony from the report of the United States 
monetary commission, 1877: 


Primarily, then, prices must have been entirely 
controlled by the volume of money unaffected by 
credit. There can never occur a universal fall in 
prices, and a general withdrawal of credits, without 
apreceding decrease in the volume of money. As 
the volume of money shrinks prices fall. When 
money is decreasing in volume prices have no_bot- 
tom except a receding one, and they are inexorably 
ruled by the volume of money. In the whole _his- 
tory of the world, every great and general fall in 
prices, have been preceded by a decrease in the vol- 
ume of money. At the Christian era the metalic 
money of the Roman empire amounted to $1,800,- 
000,000. At the end of the fifteenth century it had 
shrunk to $200,000,000. During this period a most 
extraordinary and baleful change took place in the 
condition of the world. Population dwindled, and 
commerce, arts, wealth and freedom all disap- 
peared. The people were reduced by poverty 
to the most degraded condition of serfdom 
and misery. The disintegration of society was al- 
most complete. The conditions of life was so hard 
that individual selfishness was the only instinct con- 
sistent with self-preservation. All public spirit, all 
generous emotions, all noble aspirations of men 
shriveled and disappeared as the volume of money 
shrunk and prices fell. That the Dark Ages were 
caused by decreasing money and falling prices, and 
that the recovery therefrom, and the comparative 
prosperity which followed the discovery of America 
were due to the increasing supply of the precious 
metals, and rising prices will not seem surprising, or 
unreasonable, when the noble functions of money 


140 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


are considered. Money is the great instrument of 
association, the very fibre of social organization, the 
vitalizing force of industry, and as essential to its 
existence as oxygen is to animal life. Without 
money civilization could not have had a beginning 
—with a diminishing supply it must languish, and, 
unless relieved, finally perish. 


Sir Archibald Allison, the great English historian, 
corroborates the foregoing testimony to he fullest 
extent, and says: | 


The two great events in the history of mankind 
have been brought about by a successive contraction 
and expansion of the circulating medium of society. 
The fall of the Roman empire, so long ascribed in 
ignorance to slavery, to heathenism and to moral 
corruption, was, in reality, brought about by a de- 
cline in the silver aad gold mines of Spain and 
Greece. And as if Providence intended to reveal 
in the clearest manner possible the influence of this 
mighty agent in human affairs, the restoration’ of 
mankind from the ruin this cause had produced was 
owing to the directly opposite set of agencies being 
put in operation. Columbus led the way in the 
career of renovation; when he spread his sails to 
cross the Atlantic he bore mankind and its fortunes 
in his bark. The annual supply of the precious 
metals—of money—for the use of the globe was 
trebled; before a century had passed the price of 
every species of produce was quadrupled. The 
weight of debt and taxation insensibly wore off 
under the influence of that prodigious increase; in 
the renovation of industry society was changed, the 
weight of feudalism cast off and the rights of man 
established. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 141 


No earthly force can withstand the enginery of 
the financial autocrats. Thomas H. Benton said: 
‘All property is at their mercy.” 

In view of the transcendent importance of the 
quantity of money afloat, we now proceed to inquire 
as to the usual manner and processes of reduc- 
ing its volume. Prior to 1861, the usual and very 
successful plan for suppressing the currency of the 
country was by a run on the banks. This plan not 
only destroyed the money ia the pockets of the peo- 
ple, but, by:the sudden and complete contraction 
of the currency, it almost entirely destroyed the 
prices of all property. 

After 1865 the old plan of contraction was not 
practicable; but, in 1866 a law of congress was pass- 
ed for the material reduction of the volume of cur- 
rency, and Secretary McCulloch advised that: ‘‘The 
process of contracting the government notes should go 
on as rapidly as possible without producing a panic.” 
The same secretary reported, in December, 1866, 
that he had during the year, ‘‘counted and retired 
$211,000,000.” 

In 1872, Secretary Boutwell reported that he 
had cancelled, by burning,” $100,000,000. The 
continued contraction of the currency produced 
the disastrous depression of 1873, which con- 
tinued until the remedial measures of 1878 were 
passed. One of these remedial measures forbade 
the further retirement of United States notes; the 
other provided for the coinage of silver, and the is- 


142 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


suing of silver certificates. They added to the mon- 
ey facilities of the country and gradually, and par- 
tially, relieved the financial and industrial depres- 
sion. > 

Since 1878 suppression of currency, by burning, 
has not been lawful or practicable, hence a third 
plan has been adopted; the policy of hoarding, or 
locking up, the money of the country in the treasury, 
and, by various excuses and devices, the amount of 
available assets in the public treasury is unprece- 
dented. From 1865 to 1882, a period of eighteen 
years, the average available assets in the treasury 
was $160,000,000. In 1882 the treasury hoard be- 
gan to permanently increase, and has since contin- 
ued to do so. The amount now reported monthly 
by the United States treasurer has, for several 
months, ranged above $550,000, 000. 

This material contraction of the currency by lock- 
ing up, has afflicted the country with falling prices, 
compelling all business men and investors to hoard 
in self-defense. Thus we see piled up in the great 
money centers unusual amounts of money, belong- 
ing to individuals, waiting a change from the 
continually receding prices of the products of labor | 
and the commodities of commerce. And, as in all 
cases of suppression of the money, and consequent 
falling prices, we hear on all hands the moans and 
cries of distress, and the earthquake rumblings of 
threatening ‘revolution and anarchy. Such scenes 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 143 


and dangers were witnessed under similar circum- 
stances during the years 1873 to 1877. 

The great,Peter Cooper stated, that during his 
‘long business life, he had witnessed ten disastrous 
industrial depressions, always from the same cause; 
always and uniformly from a destruction, or suppres- 
sion, of the money of the country. And British his- 
tory informs us that a law for the suppression of 
the currency of that country was passed in 1820. 
At that time the country was prosperous and the 
British people were employed and contented. Un- 
der the influence of the Peel contraction bill, four- 
fifths of all land-holders of England, through bank- 
ruptcy and forced sales, lost their lands. The people 
were without employment, and were suffering every- 
where for the commonest necessaries of life. The 
suffering country was relieved by five money bills in- 
troduced in a single night, by Lord Castlereagh, and 
passed under a suspension of the rules as matters 
of urgent necessity. Every bill was designed to 
increase money facilities. The relief was sudden 
and effective. . 

Your committee now submit, that the primal and 
general cause of financial and industrial depression, 
is a suppression of the means of changing titles to 
the products of labor, and that this blocking of the 
means of distribution should be remedied by a res- 
toration of the currency of the country. We agree 
in this report, that the general government should 
resume its exclusive sovereign right to coin and issue 


f 


¢ 


144 THE VOICE OF LABOR. ‘4 


the money of the country, and that all money so 
issued, whether metal or paper, should be receiva- 
ble by the government for all dues, and a legal ten- 
der for all debts and taxes. That the money so is- 
sued shall be gradually increased to the volume per 
capita that existed in 1865, before the law for its 
suppression was passed; that it be floated from the 
treasury in payment of the interest-bearing debt, and 
other liabilities of the government, giving bond 
holders their option of coin, or paper, in such pay- 
ments. 

And we further report, that such volume per cap- 
ita should be substantially maintained forever here- 
after, by the issue of new coin, or treasury notes, in 
accordance with the increase of population; said 
money to be circulated through the usual disburse- 
ments of the government. To shield from the evils 
of falling prices through the hoarding of money, or 
other causes, your committee suggest the creation 
of a Bureau of Prices. Said Bureau should have a 
central head at the seat of the general government, 
with branch offices in the principal commercial cit- 
ies of the country. 

It should be the business of the branch offices, to 
observe and note the daily prices in their respective 
cities, of all the important products of labor that are 
the commodities of commerce. Each branch office 
should make a full monthly report to the head office 
in Washington, where the average price of each com- 
modity, and of the aggregate commodities, must be 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 145 


arranged and published monthly. Then if these 
monthly reports show an average monthly fall in 
the sea level of general prices, the per capita addi- 
tions to the currency must be increased. But, if three 
consecutive monthly reports show a rise in the gen- 
eral sea level of prices, then the per capita additions 
to the currency should be smaller. 

It is the opinion of your committee that the vol- 
ume of the money should be maintained as nearly 
as possible unfluctuating, and that the general aver- 
age, or sea level or prices, should be maintained as 
nearly as possible the same. 

In discussing the general and bottom cause of 
financial and industrial depression, your committee 
does not forget that there are many collateral and 
cumulative causes. We recognize the grievances 
that continually arise between the money earners 
and their employers, but we know that the interests 
of both parties are best served by steady prices, and an 
unfluctuating money market. We know that strikes 
and lockouts occur oftenest, and are most difficult 
of management, when the volume of currency is 
shrinking and prices are falling. We know that 
individuals and syndicates may lock up money, and 
bring down prices, as well as the United States 
treasurer; but our Bureau of Prices will correct that. 
We know that there is still left for discussion the 
land, labor and transportation questions, in a hun- 
dred varying forms; yet we believe that the asperi- 
ties and afflictions on the body of civilized society, 


146 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


may be smoothed down and healed with greater ease, 
and certainty if the circulating medium of society 
isnormal. We believe that our Bureau of Prices, 
in its monthly reports, will reveal the fact and local- 
ity of corners in the products of industry, and may 
lead to the discovery, exposure and punishment of 
the criminals. We know that the gold corner of 
Black Friday, 1873, became a possible and accom- 
plished fact, aftera period of seven years of sup- 
pression of money an@ falling prices. 

We do not believe that an unfluctuating system 
of finance will cure all the evils of land monopoly, 
but it is a historic fact that every money panic has 
caused thousands of the homes of the people 
to pass into the hands of the money lords at 
merely nominal prices, through sheriff’s sales and 
foreclosures of mortgages. We do not believe that 
the adjustment of the money question will heal all 
the differences between capital and labor, but it may 
be safely stated, that ninety per cent of the strikes 
and troubles in this line have occurred during a 
period of falling prices. At such times the capitalist 
has the advantage in these fights, while, on a steady, 
or rising market, the employes usually gain easy 
victories. : 

We do not, either as a committee or as individ- 
uals, claim that all the ills of society can be cured 
through the manipulations of finance. We.do be- 
lieve that all reforms, and all adjustment of troubles, 
may be easily accomplished if we have at all times 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 147 


steady, unfluctuating financial ground to stand upon. 
In our opinion, he would be avery foolish man who, 
designing to build an enduring edifice of masonry, 
should select a voleanic region where the earthquakes 
beneath his feet would continually change the level 
of his foundations. | 

We think he would be a very unwise man who, 
when navigating the broad ocean, should choose as 
his guiding star a fluctuating and moving planet, in- 
stead of the polar star of fixed certainty. So, in the 
construction of an enduring civilized society, that is 
expected to live through the ages, dispensing justice 
and protecting the liberties of all its citizens, the 
system should be erected on a steady and unfluctu- 
ating foundation, and its founders should be guided 
by the fixed and unchanging principles of justice. 
Such a system cannot be established on the shifting 
and treacherous sands of a fluctuating medium of 
exchange, but must stand on solid ground, where all 
citizens may meet on equal terms for the adjustment 
of their grievances, and the enjoyment of citizen- 
ship. 


148 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER IX. 


HARD TIMES—Continvep. 


THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF SOCIETY—MONEY EARNERS 
AND MONEY USERS — THE PREDATORY STRATUM — 
LAWS FOR THE CONTRACTION OF MONEY VOLUME— 
te YEARS OF SHRINKAGE IN THE UNITED STATES—THE 
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY, LAND, LABOR, FI- 
NANCE AND TRANSPORTATION — THE DECISION OF 
JUDGE GRESHAM IN THE WABASH RAILROAD CASE— 
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR AN ORDER OF PEACE AND 
EDUCATION. 


In connection with the report of the committee 
on Financial and Industrial depression contained in 
the previous chapter, Mr. John Davis, the chairman, 
made the following illustrative remarks, which may 
be properly considered with the report. 

He said, for the convenience of discussion, Civi- 
lized . society in the United States may be divided 
into four classes: Two useful classes, devoted hon- 
estly and earnestly to the creation and distribution 
of wealth; and two predatory or vicious classes, ad- 
ding to the burdens and misfortunes of society, 





A MINER’S COTTAGE. 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 151 


hindering the creation of wealth, blocking its distri- 
bution, and, in a thousand ways, making themselves 
a clog and a menace to civilized communities. 

The useful classes embrace the men who labor 
and earn money on the farms, in the mines and in 
the factories. Also the men of business who have 
money or borrow it, and employ men in all the de- 
partments of industry and commerce. The two use- 
ful classes of society embrace all the men and wom- 
en engaged in the creation and distribution of 
wealth, in all the existing forms of labor and legiti- 
mate business. They may be defined as ‘‘The mon- 
ey earners” and “The money users.” 

One of the predatory classes of society under- 
mines, steals and debauches from the bottom, and 
the other attacks from the top, endangering the very 
existence of free institutions. 

The substratum class embraces the indolent and 
vicious who decline to labor for a livelihood, living 
and dying as parasites and burdens on society. They 
are usually without visible means of support, and 
spend much of their time in the hands of the police 
and peace officers of society. They are the thorough- 
ly discouraged wrecks of humanity, destitute of cour- 
age or hope; the debauched offal of societary mis- 
fortunes. During periods of industrial prosperity 
this substratuin of vicious indolence is not large in 
America. Its numerical volume is reduced to a 
minimum, and ultimately, with continued industri- 
al prosperity, it would cease to be of observable 


152 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


importance. But during periods of industrial de- 
pression, this substratum class grows rapidly in vol- 
ume, becoming very burdensome, and sometimes 
absolutely dangerous to the peace of large commun- 
ities. | 

The upper society embraces men who live not 
by earning money, nor by legitimately using mon- 
ey, but by the usury of money, and by gambling and 
speculating on the necessities and misfortunes of 
society. Since they thus live and fatten, it is to 
their selfish interests that society shall have as many 
and as great necessities and misfortunes as possible. 
Hence they are devoted, body and soul, to the bus- 
iness, not of creating and distributing wealth, but 
to creating societary necessities and misfortunes. 
They desire high and usurious rates on their loans 
to men, to states and to the nation. Money being dear 
in proportion to the limited supply, they favor and 
procure scarce and dear money througn legislative 
action for its contraction and suppression. 

The laws for the contraction of money are always 
passed in the interests of these usurers and specula- 
tors. Scarce money makes borrowing compulsory 
and usury high. It reduces the price of all prop- 
erty and makes the payment of money obligations 
difficult or impossible. Then when foreclosures and 
sheriff’s sales occur, the usurers become the owners 
of landed estates and the creations of labor at nom- 
inal rates. Scarce money and falling prices offer 
unusual opportunities to stock gambling and the mo- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 153 


nopoly of the necessities of life, and of everything 
that money can purchase. 

During five years of shrinking money in England, 
four-fifths of freeholders of England lost their homes, 
and those independent English farmers became the 
tenants of the money vultures of the country. Dur- 
ing a period of seven years of shrinking money in 
this country, from 1866 to 1873, the people of the 
United States passed from a state of abounding 
prosperity to a condition of deplorable bankruptcy. 
In 1866 they were virtually out of debt; in 1873 
the red flag of the auctioneer floated on every street 
in all the cities; farmers gave up their homes to the 
holders of the mortgages, and invaded the western 
wilderness to begin life anew. Men of enterprise 
who had been using money in the creation 
and distribution of wealth became bankrupt, and 
their former employes became idle, discouraged and 
vicious, swelling the substratum class to dangerous 
proportions, tramping everywhere for a living, as 
dangerous marauders on society. 

These deplorable conditions of society are periud- 
ically produced at the bidding of the usury classes 
who are interested in scarce and dear money, and 
who prey on the necessities and misfortunes of civi- 
lized society. | 

What are the remedies? There are two. Oneis 
legitimate, safe and effective. The other, illegiti- 
mate, unsafe and ineffective. The legitimate and 


safe plan is public enlightenment on financial and 
a4 


154 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


industrial subjects as taught by the Knights of La- 
bor, and to be consummated through the ballot box 
and wise legislation. The illegitimate and unsafe 
course is that taught and practised by the advocates 
of violence for legislative evils, and consummated 
in the flames of burning cities and the general de- 
struction of property and human life. In fact they 
are anarchists, through their persistent violations of 
the very principles of all just government. They 
not only engage in anarchy, in their high sphere, 
corrupting the sources of law and justice; but are 
logically and certainly the parents and producers 
of the less harmful anarchy found in the vicious 
substratum of society. 

Paid exorbitant rates for building railroads and 
telegraphs, in bonds, lands and money, they still 
hold them as their own property, and tax the pub- 
lic to whom the lines rightfully belong, <‘‘all the 
traffic will bear.” The remedies for these evils are 
not the tearing up of railroads, the burning of cities, 
or the destroying of property. But public enlight- - 
enmenton the practical questions of the day—on the 
subjects of land, labor, finance and transportation. 
Public enlightenment will beget public action. It 
will procme the repeal of class laws and the 
prompt arrest, trial and punishment of great crim- 
inalsas well as smallones. The use of dynamite 
in Chicago was the violence of thoughtless anarchy. 

The enlightened vote for Henry George in New 
York, and the just and patriotic verdict of Judge 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 155 


Gresham in the Wabash railroad case, have changed 
the tone and course of a thousand newspapers, and 
have almost revolutionized the sentiment of the en- 
tire country. The decision of Judge Gresham act- 
ually wrung from Jay Gould, our great American 
anarchist, a real shriek of pain! These results of 
enlightened and patriotic action demonstrate and 
illustrate the practical superiority of the ballot as 
compared with physical violence. The dew and the 
sunshine are creators of wealth, while the blind 
- cyclones only destroy. Enlightened labor will al- 
ways accomplish happy results by the use of peace- 
ful, lawful and civilized methods; while the blind, 
violent methods of savagery can only end in chaos 
from which spring individual and class usurpations 
of power and public oppression. 

It was the object of the committee at Richmond 
to point out the central and main cause of industrial 

depression and publicdistress. It is our object now 
to point out and classify the principal agencies at 
work in civilized communities, for both good and 
evil, and to further illustrate the subject. 

From what is here stated it will be seen that there 
should be no fight between employing capital and 
labor—between the money earners and the money 
users; yet such fights are common from the fact that 
suffering and uninformed men usually strike those 
nearest them; or because employing capital finds 
itself amid falling prices with no profits on the pro- 
ducts of labor; or because employing capital, not 


156 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


satisfied with legitimate profits, enters the fleld of 
speculation and gambling on the products of labor. 
These questions must be solved, understood and 
peacefully settled. Herein is the mission of the 
order of the Knights of Labor. It is an order of 
peace and education. 

In all mention of capital we should bear in mind 
the important distinction between employing capital 
and speculative or gambling capital—between the 
class of so-called ‘‘capitalists,” and the capital- 
using, wealth-creating business men. And in our 
mention of labor and laboring men we must remem- 
ber the important distinction between sober and. in- 
dustrious wage-earners, and theidle, vicious class of 
parasites who avoid labor as much as_ possible. 
These distinctions between the useful and the pred- 
atory classes will materially aid us in understanding 
each other. 


Gos THE VOICE OF LABOR. 157 


CHAPTER X. 


WAGES. 


WAGES A SUBJECT.OF VAST IMPORTANCE—GREAT NA- 
TIONS ARE NOW DEALING WITH IT—-THE ECONOMICS 
OF WAGES — INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS INCESSANTLY 
CHANGE——A TABLE OF STATISTICS—-THE PROGRESS OF 
WAGES—ECONOMY DOES NOT DEMAND LOW WAGES—— 

WHAT HIGH WAGES WILL DO—HON. WILLIAM WALSH 
ON WAGES — INCREASE OF CAPITAL DEMANDS IN- 
CREASE OF LABOR—-TO PROTECT LABOR A SACRED DU- 
TY—DR. PARKER ON REGULATION OF WAGES——CO-OP- 
ERATION THE ULTIMATUM OF PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRY. 


THE question of wages, as one of the phases of 
the labor movement, is of vast importance to the 
workingman. All who have investigated the sub- 
ject are irresistibly driven to the conclusion that in- 
dications point to a,.contest in every civilized na- 
tion. | 
~ We read daily reports of the proceedings of the 
English parliament upon her land system and the 
struggles of her Irish tenantry; sensational accounts 
of Russian nihilism startle the world; Austria and 


* 


158 THE VOICE OF LABOR. » 


Germany are kept in a continual state of fear lest 
the death of Bismarck will leave them helpless; and 
everywhere there are unmistakable signs that an un- 
dercurrent is agitating the masses. This agitation 
assumes various phases in different localities. At 
one place it is a difficulty between mill-owners and 
their operatives; in another it lies between the rich 
and the poverty stricken; again, it is between land 
holders and peasants, and between privileged classes 
and the proletariat. 3 

Wages, or the compensation for work performed, 
is that proportion of the value of any product to 
which each contributor to that product is entitled. 
This proportion may be either nominal or real. 
Nominal wages is the amount of money paid for 4 
certain amount of work done, and real wages refers 
to the quantity of the commodities which the money 
received for the work willpurchase. The two great 
forces which are engaged in the production of the 
substances which comprise food, fuel, shelter, or 
the materials which may be converted into capital, 
are labor and capital. Land is worthless unless 
labor and capital render it valuable. It is by the 
co-operation of these two forces that an annual pro- 
ductis brought’into existence, wherefrom wages 
may be obtained. 

A careful review of the economic development of | 
the United States during the last fifty years, leads 
to the conclusion that the workingman has_ secured 
results for a given amount of labor which have 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 159 


gradually increased. The industrial conditions 
have been ina perpetual movement, and this move- 
ment has been controlled by artificial encourage- 
ment and restrictions. It is, therefore, difficult to 
trace the economic progress with exactness, and _al- 
most impossible to accurately determine the situa- 
tion at any given time. 

In the tenth annual report of the Massachusetts 
Bureau of Statistics of Labor, 1879, will be found 
a comparison between the wages of 1860 and those 
of 1878. The returns-from 63,515 workingmen 
tended to show that the weekly wages were twenty- 
four and four-tenths per cent higher in 1878 than 
they werein 1860. A comparison made by Mr. 
Carlisle shows that between 1850 and 1860 wages 
advanced seventeen per cent, in gold, and only four 
per cent in purchasing power, but in the next ten 
years wages declined ten per cent in purchasing 
power. Inthe next decade they fell ten per cent, 
but increased eighteen per cent in purchasing power. 
By taking the average annual wages in cotton, 
woolen and ironindustries in each census year, and 
the cost of living, the following comparison table 
was obtained: 


Year. Currency. Gold. Purchasing power. 
1850 . $244.83 $244.83 $244.83 
1860 287.00 287.00 255.32 
1870 Sige fig o> 3806.55 230.83 
1880 277.00 277.00 272.91 


Similar estimates from labor statistics of other 


160 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


states show a like increase in the rate of wages, 
despite the gradual centralization of capital. 

It is not the amount of money received for wages 
that determines whether labor is cheap or dear, but 
the rate is fixed by the amount of valuable product 
secured by the money paid. An employer may 
pay two dollars for one man’s work, and one dollar 
and a half for that of another, but the higher priced 
may bethe cheaper. The two dollar man may be able 
to do twice the amount of work asthe one who is paid 
one dollar and a half. Low wages are often the 
cause of poor labor, and it is from this point of view 
that capitalists may see that an apparent sacrifice 
may result in their ultimate advantage. 

Economy does not demand the lowest priced 
labor, but the labor which produces the most at the 
least expense is always the most profitable. It is — 
certainly clear that the employer who engages the 
man who is vigorous, intelligent and in best physical 
and mental condition, will profit more by high wages 
paid, than for low wages paid to a miserable, ignor- 
ant and half-starved animal. : 

EK. P. Smith, in his Political Economy, says: 
‘Looking upon a human laborer, then, as we would 
upon a steam engine, we see that the amount of 
force which he is capable of creating depends upon 
the amount of food supplied to him; a part of it an- 
swering the purpose of the coal which gives heat, 
another answering to the water which is converted — 
into steam and generates motion. A sheet iron 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 161 


jacket put around the boiler prevents the waste of 
heat in one case, just as a woolen jacket about the 
body of the laborer does in the other. But food, 
clothing and shelter, are supplied to the human 
machine in the shape of wages. To stint them, and 
to keep the laborer down to the lowest point that 
will induce him to live, without deterring him from 
propagation, is precisely the same kind of economy 
which would keep the steam engines of a nation at 
half their working power to save wood, water 
and sheetiron. The rate of wages which such con- 
siderations would demand has been attained in very 
few regions of the world. Suppose it anywhere to 
have been reached: the laborer is only brought up 
to the condition of an ox.” 

At a Knights of Labor celebration in 1887, 
Hon. William Walsh, among other remarks, said: 

‘‘Wages arise where one is paid for his labor or 
services to another. Profit arises where one puts 
his capital at. risk in production of some beneficial 
kind, and what has been gained after paying wages, 
rent, interest and other expenses, is profit. 

‘(Labor is to some extent capital, because it re- 
quires a good deal of capital to bring an infant to 
manhood and educate him for the occupation he is 
to follow. It cannot justly be treated as a mere 
commodity. The workman cannot be separated 
from humanity, and the rights and duties that en- 
viron him as a man and a citizen, and I regard all 
who labor with hand or brain as workmen. All 


A 


162 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


who think, plan, direct, record, invent, who con- 
tribute to whatever sustains, enlightens, graces, hu- 
man life, are workmen. Every increase of capital — 
creates an increased demand for labor of some sort; 
for capital will generally seek profitable use. It is 
only the weak and ignorant who bury their talent. 
Hence we are all interested in the increase of capi- 
tal, and desire to give all the safety to its invest- 
ment that may be consistent with the welfare of so- 
ciety in reference to the great objects for which so- 
clety 1s organized. 

“We all are interested with wages and profits. 
Between these two poles the labor questions chiefly 
play. While the rate of movement in population 
and in capital, and the fluctuation in the: cost of 
necessaries have effect on wages, yet itis recognized 
by all economists, and is a truth which the work- 
ingmen should stand firmly to, that the standard of 
living is one of the chief foundations to establish 
good wages upon. 

«Tg man’s life cheap as brutes?’ isa vital ques- 
tion in this discussion, which Shakespeare puts in 
the mouth of one of his characters. Universally 
wherever the standard of living has been kept high, 
wages have been best maintained. Wages will 
never go higher than the point where profits cease. 
The capitalist will quit the business ultimately if 
profits cease. Fair profits then give the upper limit 
of wages. The standard of living is the lower limit. 
Keep this standard high and let it become traditional, 


THE VOICE OF: LABOR. 165 


bred in the sentiments and habits ofthe people, and 
wages will never go below it. The capitalist will 
withdraw when his profits vanish. The worker must 
cease to work and retirefrom the field when the 
wages oifered will no longer furnish himself and 
his family with means to procure comfort and respect- 
ability, and make his home a place of sanctity and 
endearment. 

‘‘Workers must start from a high point o1 self-val- 
uation, and never go below it. In apolitical sense, 
the high standard of living is a chief requirement 
for the preservation of our republican institutions. 
And itis a public duty of the most sacred kind to 
protect the workingmen of the country in all means 
and all natural and civil rights to secure a high 
standard of living. They are American citizens, 
and the safe guarding of liberty and public virtue is 
entrusted to their charge. The high standing of 
living has saved the labor of Switzerland from de- 
gradation, though the country is not rich in capital. 
The low standard of living has produced the degra- 
dation of labor witnessed among the Orientals. The 
low standard, if once allowed, will be further re- 
duced until man’s life will be cheaper than the 
brute’s. In the slave days, aSouthern master asked 
his servant to do apiece of work attended with 
danger. He said to the master: ‘You had better 
let John (the white man) do that.’ The master 
asked him why. The colored man said: ‘If I goup 
there and fall I’will be killed, and you will lose $1,- 


164 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


— 500; but if John falls you will lose nothing.’ The 
master saw the point and sent John. The freeman | 
must look out for himself, and all are now free. 

“The tendency of the fierce competition between 
capitalists, the multiplication of machinery, the 
ever-flowing tide of emigration, woman labor and 
child labor, to reduce wages may be largely resisted 
by the elevation which a high standard of living 
communicates to the sentiments and expectations of 
the wage earners and to wages. If this standard is 
lowered the American workmen would in time be 
prostrated to the level of the degradation which may 
be seen among the toilers of the eastern world. 
American citizenship would be debased, and the ar- 
rogance of wealth and the insolence of its satelites 
and dependents would dominate over us. We would 

eve proved ourselvesunworthy of freedom, because 
we were unable to preserve that elevation of senti- 
ment and dignity of character which are essential 
to the permanence of our American freedom. 

‘“‘The capitalist fights every thing that resists cheap 
production and lessens profits. He regards labor 
as a commodity. He sees no law but that of sup- 
ply and demand. He forgets that the laborer is a 
man, a citizen and Christian, that he raises a fami- 
ly, and that families make the state, and that the 
state will reflect the elevation or degradation of the 
families that compose it. He takes no account of . 
the ten commandments, nor of the grandeur and 
glory of the state. 











HAPPY TOILERS. 


ase ‘ 


2 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 167 


“Tf labor submits to a low standard of living, 
low wages will prevail, and the workingmen will 
find poor, low priced goods and unhealthy tene- 
ments prepared to suit their fallen condition. Work- 
ingmen should never buy adulterated food or drink, 
shoddy or sizing clothes, or occupy filthy tenements. 
They should boycott these and stop the production 
of them, because they will be produced to meet the 
lowered condition of wage earners. 

‘There is one method of elevating wages that 
capital could not possibly resist, but it will take time 
and sacrifice from wage earners to place them- 
selves in the condition to apply it. 

“The capitalist treats labor asa commodity. He is 
governed solely by the law of supply and demand. 
He encourages by emigration, long hours, spasmod- 
ic activities, and suspension of production, and 
other means, a surplus supply of labor. Labor has 
no capital ahead. The workingman and his family 
must have food and shelter from day to day. He 
cannot withdraw his labor from a low market, as 
the capitalist can his*productions. Providence has 
arranged that crops come in annually to encourage 
prudence, foresight and economy among men. The 
man that has saved enough to support himself and 
family for one year is independent. Produc- 
tion cannot stop for one year. And if wage 
earners would determine as rapidly as possible to 
save and accumulate one year’s living, they would 
be absolutely independent of the fluctuations, arti: 


168 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ficial or otherwise, of the excessive supply of labor. 
They would be able to withdraw their labor from 
the market until the wages come up to the Ameri- 
can standard of high living. 

‘Tt is one of the few well-established doctrines 
of political economy, that increase of wages never 
comes off the consumer, and must come out of pro- 
fits. Good wages reduce the profits of the capitalist, 
but do not inhance the price to the public. The 
rule is, that it is the quantity of labor required to pro- 
duce an article that increases its price to the con- 
sumer, and that the value or cost of the labor cannot 
in the workings of economic laws, be transferred to 
the consumer. But, even if high wages did not 
come out of profits alone, but enhanced the price 
of the commodity, the community would suffer in- 
finitely more from the moral and political degen- 
eracy which must inevitably result, and always and 
everywhere has resulted, from low wages and low 
standard of living than it would lose by any cheap- 
ening commodities effected by lowering wages. Our 
institutions are priceless, and must be maintained 
and handed down to all the generations that are to 
spring from the present. We cannot barter them 
away for cheaper goods. 

‘¢The wealth of the world would be no compen- 
sation to freemen for the degeneracy of their man- 
hood and the debasement of the uplifting spirit that 
animates our glorious republican institutions. The 
constant increase of machinery, steam transit, and 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 169 


the whole tendency of the present industrial system 
is to release capital, dispense with the quantity ot 
labor required in production, increase the surplus 
of labor, and lower wages down to the starvation 
line, and far below the standard of respectable, dig- 
nified and decent living, without which the days of 
our freedom anc glory will rapidly pass away, and 
the great American Republic will die from the in- 
ordinate avarice of the few, and the lack of manly 
spirit and public virtue in the many. | 

‘¢ Freemen were never charged with a more sa- 
cred duty than now commands the American peopie 
to unite together and concentrate all the force of 
enlightened and patriotic public sentiment and opin- 
ion against low wages, and that inevitable degen- 
eracy of the spirit of the people and institutions 
which have followed low wages always and every- 
where.” 

In answer to a question as to the manner in 
which wages might be regulated, Dr. H. J. Parker 
replied as follows: 

‘It is all right and proper for workingmen to 
form unions and associations for mutual protection 
and improvement, but when they attempt to keep 
wages up on a par with the general advancement in 
other fields, without taking into the account the un- 
derlying forces of legislative enactments affecting 
money, commerce and labor, they are swimming 
against the current and will finally sink. 


‘“Workingmen vote for men and parties that Legis. 
12 


170 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


late for the Shylock money oppression, that permit 
high tariffs on articles of general consumption, and the 
free importation of labor to take the places of home 
laborers, and yet expect by some means to main- 
tain a condition of labor superior to that of the 
Kuropean wage slave. It will be a failure. They © 
may benefit themselves locally and temporarily, and 
in a few instances may protect themselves during 
their natural lifetime, but it cannot be a lasting nor 
a general protection that in its efforts ignores legis- 
lation that alone and inexorably determines the 
destiny of a people. 

“‘As our country becomes developed we must sink 
to the European level, unless we refuse to yield to 
the shaping of our institutions in the European 
channel. | 

‘(With the European money system, tax and land 
systems, with the same laws governing the produc- 
tion and distribution of wealth, it is only a question 
of time as to where we will go. Wages cannot be 
regulated arbitrarily. They must go with every- 
thing else sooner or later. 

‘Co-operation is the ultimatum of productive in- 
dustry, the highest point to be attained in manufac- 
ture. Labor will have its reward when it gets what 
it produces. Then its reward will be regulated by 
the demands of consumption and will seek an equil- 
ibrium and its proper fields of action, according to 
the demands which may press from various quarters. 

‘‘Until co-operation is perfected we must regulate 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. TA 


wages by regulating incomes on capital, supply of 
labor, etc. If we have the right to restrict interest 
on money, we have the same right to limit incomes 
on money invested. Limit incomes of all enter- 
prises to a given per cent, and let the balance go to 
a fund to be distributed pro rata to employes accord- 
ing to skill and time put in, and you have the scien- 
tific solution of the labor question, when considered 
apart from general legislation. This need not 
destroy the spirit of enterprise and will not. It will 
give an extra stimulus to the laborer, and make him 
contented and emulative. He will try to do some- 
thing for himself, because he sees an opportunity 
for something in the future. 

‘Just how far this kind of legislation may be 
necessary, is the question to be solved by an intel- 
ligent ballot from time to time. 

“We may remember that government itself or 
civilization itself is based properly on the premise 
of protecting the weak against the strong, the good 
against the bad.” 

All countries, whether commercial or manufac- 
turing, are visibly affected by periods of adversity 
and prosperity, and are subject to changes of 
varying intensity. Laws regulating the hours of 
labor, the collection of revenue and the like, may 
alter conditions and situations to some degree, but 
there can be no permanent effect. In the long run 
wages will be highest in that country or locality 
where capital and labor fully co-operate and, at the 


ET? THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


lowest cost, together make up the greatest amount 
of product. As conditions change, labor may be 
displaced fora time, and poverty may ensue, but 
this poverty is brought about more fromthe destruc- 
tion of capital and in rendering land valueless, than 
from other causes. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. Nite 


CHAPTER XI. 


ORIGIN AND PROGRESS CF TRADES 
UNIONS. 


fHE DISCLOSURE OF HISTORY—-ANTIQUITY OF COMBINA- 
TIONS BY WORKINGMEN—THE OLD GUILDS OF EUROPE 
—THE FIRST AUTHENTIC ORGANIZATIONS—THE POW- 
ER OF ORGANIZATIONS SIX HUNDRED YEARS AGO— 
THE CRUELTIES PRACTICED IN ENGLAND—THE SECRET 
OF THEIR STRENGTH——-UNIONS HAVE ELEVATED WAGES 
—WORKINGMEN CANNOT BE TOO WELL PAID—UNION 

LITERATURE FOR LABOR— ™. 


a; 
See, 
mm 


MEN THE BEST WORKMEN 


UNIONS ARE EDUCATING WORKINGMEN—-THEIR GREAT 
4 





FUTURE. 


Ir is a singular fact that history discloses a sys- 
_tematic oppression of labor in all ages, and from 
time immemorial there has been a constant resist- 
ance on the part of the laborer. 

In attempting to trace the origin of combinations 
and organizations among workingmen and laborers, 
we find their beginning lost in the remote ages. 
The first authentic evidences of such organizations, 


according to Brentano, are found in the history of 


Seed 


174 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


_.the northern German tribes of Europe, which were 
“called guilds or gilds. Guilds were originally feasts 
and gatherings held in celebration of births, marri- 
ages and deaths. Other events, such ascoronations, 
national assemblies and the like, were the occasion 
of similar banquets and deliberative assemblages. 
These guilds led to the formation of a kind of 
brotherly alliance between those of similar occupa- 
tions or modes of life, and eventually the term guild 
expressed the idea of a common community or so- 
ciety. 

The spirit of association naturally found its way 
into the ranks of labor, and as early as the eighth 
century the organization of guilds had become al- 
most an universal custom. | 

These guilds assumed a general classification and 
_were divided into Religious, Merchant and Craft 
a guilds. The religious guild was the prototype of 
church denominations, the merchant guild the pre- 
decessor of corporations, and the craft guild the arch- 
etype of the modern trade union. The craft guild 
grew up among the old freemen hundreds of years 
ago, and to-day we see trades unions as combinations 
of workingmen united in common defense of their 
rights as against the oppressive tendencies of great 
vapitalists. : 

It was in the twelfth century, during the reign o 
Henry II, that the first organization, akin to the 
present trade union, was formed in England, and 
since that time the general tenor of legislation has 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 175 


been much against the interests of the workingman, 
and proportionately, has been enacted in behalf of 
the capitalist. . 

The essence of the craft guilds was ‘‘mutual sup- 
port, mutual protection, and mutual responsibility.” 
Their exclusiveness widened the separation between 
the craftsmen and their employers, and served -to 


give each different views and interests. In the four- | 
teenth century the masons maintained a higher rate / 


of wages than was received by other trades, solely © 


on account of their organization, and in 1383 the 
authorities of London, alarmed at the power exer- 
cised by the unions, forbade all ‘congregations, 
covins, and conspiracies of workmen.” 

In 1396, a coalition of shoemakers was disbanded 
by the authorities. Notwithstanding the legislation 
against them, the workingmen continued to com- 
bine, but the history of the working classes during 
the next three centuries is a tale of suffering and 


psadness. They resisted in every way possible, but 


were met at every hand with brutal force and infa- 
mous laws. While Edward VI was on the throne, 


an act was passed to brand a man who refused to © } 
work at ‘statute prices,” with the letter ««V ” (vag- | \ 


abond), and reduce him to slavery for two years. 
Nearly all of the attempts of parliament to fix 
wages were failures. At the dawn of the eighteenth 
century, the combination laws were universally in 
operation, and the workingman worked sixteen 
hours out of the twenty-four. With the introduction 


176 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


of steam power, the domestic system of manufac. 
turing declined, and trades unions perfected their 
organizations. The workingmen met the combina. 
tions of their employers to keep down the price of 
labor, with organizations to keep them up. Capital 
has heretofore been directed against ignorant and 
uneducated men, but the conditions have changed 
in the last fifty years. 

In speaking of trades unions, Trant says: ‘+They 
are built on a rock—a firm, sound, substantial ba- 
sis. Theycannot be annihilated. If they are done 
away with to-day, they would spring up again to-mor- 
row the same as in the celebrated dispute with Messrs. 
Platt, of Oldham; when the men were starved 
into submission, and were obliged to give up their un- 
ion, yet they rejoined as soon as they were at work.” 

It is evident that workingmen are everywhere 
becoming less and less indifferent to the caprice ~ 
of their employers. When they demand just laws 
their request cannot longer be passed unheeded, be- 
cause they are able to show that they are as com- 
petent as any other class to judge of their own 
needs and requirements. 

One of the fundamental elements which go to make 
up atrade union, is brotherly sympathy. This admi- 
rable sentiment seems to be peculiar to workingmen. 
Prof. Rogers writes: ‘‘I confess that I look for- 
ward to the international union of. labor partner- 
ships as the best prospect the world has of coerc- 
ing those hateful instincts of governments, all alike 


—_~ 


™NQ 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. Lit 


irresponsible and indifferent, by which nations are 
perpetually armed against each other, to the infinite 
detriment, loss, and demoralization of all.” 


, One of the general results of unions has been a 
“raise in the payment of wages. Usually, the rela- 


tions between workingmen and their employers 
imply a pecuniary bargain, and when differences 
have arisen, the efficacy of organization has been 
shown in the securing of better conditions. A gen- 
eral review of the history of trades unions indicates 
a gain for them. It is, however, difficult to point 
out to what extent a raise in wages is due to the di- 
rect action of a union, because the elements of gen- 
eral progress and prosperity have much to do with 
the amount of product, therefore, with the amount 
of wages paid. 

Few employers when unasked advance the 
amount of wages paid, and the workingman in seek- 
ing to better his condition cannot well strike 
singly. 

If a strike fails, it shows that the men have the 
capacity to combine in such a way that the em- 
ployer may wel. fear, and despite failure, strikes 
are often successes. The loss incident upon a 
strike renders future demands for just dues amore 
readily adjusted affair than the first difficulty. An 
ineffectual strike often proves to be one of general 
effect, for non-unionists invariably gain, to some ex- 
tent, the advantages of the unionist. 

The action of the trades unions in gaining an in- 


178 THE VOICE CF LABOR. 


crease in the amount of wages paid, does not affect 
the purchasing power of their stipends. This stimu- 
lates trade in a general way, for the workingman 
and his family are ever willing to spend his hard 
earned dollars in pecuniary additional comforts for 
the household. A general rise in wages through- 
out the United States would increase our exports to 
an enormous amount, and every department of trade 
would feel an impetus. . 


There is no doubt in the minds of intelligent and — 


candid thinkers, that trades unions are the source 
of material profit and a general increase of pro- 
ducts, and employers have learned that union men 
are, as a rule, better workmen. Every manufactur- 
er knows that a good workman, though paid high 
wages, is of more value to him than a poor work- 
man at less wages. 

‘‘Tt seems strange that in this enlightened age,” 
Trant writes, ‘there are persons who believe that 
men can have more wages than is good for them. 
There is no such thing as being too well paid. The 
men who think so are, as a rule, those who are 
plentifully provided with the blessings of this life, 
and who opposed the movement in favor of univer- 
sal education, because they objected to working- 
men being too well educated, as it would make them 
discontented with their ‘station,’ as if there was 
such a thing as too much education. . . . All 
that is maintained here is that, though some evil 


may creep in with a rise of wages, as itseems todo © 


ities 

















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































‘4 


on 
Hl } 
















































































(5 ‘ oy 


ul: 


at 










































































COAL UNDER DIFFERENT ASPECTS. 


ct 


Peas F me 
fa 


ate 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 181 


with an increase of wealth, yet that good wages are 
a great blessing, and ought to be gladly welcomed 
by those who even have not yet reached that stage 
of morality of endeavoring to love their neighbors 
as themselves.” 

The great movement which has agitated every 
state in America has been the cause of the springing 
up of scores of newspapers which are wholly de- 
voted to educating the rank and file of the work- 
ingmen. Newspapers are now seen in homes which 
never before were blessed with them, and public 
schools are showing a decided increase because of 
their influence. The men, too, show a general de- 
sire to improve in their respective trades. The bet- 
ter the workman, the sooner he leaves incompetent 
associates and becomes a unionist. All union men 
are not superior workmen, but very few experts are 
non-unionmen. Men outside the unions are gener- 
ally inferior workmen employed at greatly reduced 
_ rates. 

An iron manufacturer, in writing of the influence 
of unions on his men, said: “I have had twenty 
years of pretty close acquaintanceship with artisans 
and laborers of all kinds, and I know many of them 
have much sounder views of common-sense political 
economy than the middle classes in general hold. I 
look upon trade unions as admirable training schools 
for the workmen, where they will soon outgrow their 
heresies on the subject of capital and labor, where- 
as, if they are brow beaten and scolded in a violent 


meebo 


¢ 
J Maia gate tO 


182 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


manner, they will begin—as some of them, I fear, 
have already—to think that masters are to be re- 
garded as their natural enemies, and treated accord- 
ingly. ; | 

‘¢The uneducated workmen are, as a rule, a rath- 
er violent set of fellows, it must be admitted; but I 
can see that, under the training and leadership of 
the foremost men in the unions, these are fast be- 
coming a very small minority, as they are very 
plainly and forcibly told that the old way of settling 
disputes with their employers is about the very 
worst that could be adopted. This, coming from 
men of their own class, they are daily becoming 
more and more ready to listen to with respect, which 
would not be the case if it emanated from the em- 
ployers’ class, whom they have good grounds for 
regarding with distrust and suspicion. 

‘I know enough of the unprincipled conduct of 
the employers, through their agents in our iron in- 
dustry, to understand and excuse much in the con- 
duct of the unionists that would be indefensible on 
any other grounds than those of extreme injustice 
and most heartless provocation—not that the em- 
ployers had directly perpetrated such things person- 
ally, but they must be held responsible, seeing that 
they have seldom or ever taken the trouble to find 
out the rights and wrongs of disputed points; but in 
ninety-nine out of one hundred cases the underlings 
have been left to take their own course and represent 
their own case as, of course, decidedly angelic. The 


& 
4 


a i nee in aa 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 183 


unions have done immense service in bringing about a 
different state of things, and to my certain knowledge, 
it has been due to the influence of the leaders of the 
unions that the system of arbitration has been 
adopted lately in so many industries; and this, bear 
in mind, in spite of the dogged resistance of many of 
the employers, who do not like the system as I have 
heard them say, because it puts a weapon into the 
men’s hands to fight with, when a dispute arises 
about the rate of wages.” 

It cannot be gainsaid that the unions havea great 
future before them. The legitimate end of pure un- 
ionism is to allay the antagonism between labor and 
capital, and to bring the employer and workingman 
to a plane of mutual understanding and mutual ben- 
efit. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XII. 


AMERICAN LABOR UNIONS. 


THE FIRST AMERICAN TRADE UNION — JOURNEYMEN 


SHIPWRIGHTS-—NEW YORK TYPOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 
-—FIRST LABOR PARTY—-FRANKLIN SOCIETY OF PRINT- 
ERS—-NATIONAL TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION—THE INTER- 
NATIONAL——-HAT FINISHERS—-IRON MOULDERS——ME- 
CHANICAL ENGINEERS OF AMERICA—BROTHERHOOD LO- 
COMOTIVE ENGINEERS—-LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN—CIGAR 
MAKERS—BRICKLAYERS AND STONEMASONS——PATRONS 
OF HUSBANDRY—GRANGE—RAILWAY CONDUCTORS— 
BOOT AND SHOEMAKERS — GERMAN-AMERICAN TYPO- 
GRAPHICAL—-HORSE-SHOERS—IRON AND STEEL HEAT- 
ERS — GRANITE CUTTERS — LAKE SEAMEN — BOILER 
MAKERS — CARPENTERS AND JOINERS—HAT MAKERS 
— MINERS AND MINE LABORERS — BAKERS—SWITCH- 
MEN —- TAILORS — TELEGRAPH MEN — FURNITURE— 
COOPERS—-ETC.—-ETC. 


ORGANIZATIONS and combinations of workingmen 


have existed in the United States over one hun- 


dred years. On the Fourth of July,17 88, there 


_“ Wasa grand parade in Philadelphia, and all of the 
trades were represented in the procession. Those 





“tartan de, ean, bs eres ee see ee int X a0 bat OT AP tL eee a * eo! 
MN Re REY eRe ks Mae pc geay Men neh see ey : 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 185 


of each trade were appropriately costumed and car- 
ried an emblematic flag. 

The following crafts were in line: Carpenters, 
boat-builders, sail-makers, ship-joiners, rope-makers, 
cabinet-makers, brickmakers, painters, clock and 
watchmakers, weavers, bricklayers, tailors, carvers, 
turners, coopers, plane-makers, blacksmiths, nailers, 

-coachmakers; these were followed by hatters, pot- 
ters, wheelwrights, tinners, printers, glovers, sad- 
dlers, stone-cutters, bakers, silversmiths and jewel- 
ers, goldsmiths, coppersmiths, gunsmiths, foundry- 
men, tanners, curriers and upholsterers, engravers, 
plasterers, brushmakers, brewers, etc., ete. 

The first American trade union was th New York 
Society of Journeymen Shipwrights, which was in- 
corporated April 38,1808. The New York Typo- 
graphical Society No. 6, was formed several years 
later, of which Horace Greeley was the first presi- 
dent. Si gra 

The present system of labor unions may be said 

7 to have formed in. 1825, and during the admin- 
istration of John Quincy Adams. During this pe- 
riod the first labor party had birth, and aan its 
organs, ‘The Workingman’ s Advocate,” Daily 
“Sentinel,” and ® Young America,” promulgated 
the following platform: 


: 1. The right of man to the soil—‘‘Vote yourself 
a farm.” 


2. Down with monopolies, especially the United 
States Bank. 
138 : 


186 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Freedom of public lands. 

Homesteads made inalienable. 

Abolition of alllaws for the Bee of debts. 
A general bankrupt law. 


. A lien of the laborer upon his own work for 
his wages, 


8. Abolition of imprisonment for debt. 
y 9. Equal rights for women with men in all re- 
spects. 

10. Abolition of chattel dene and wages _ 
slavery. n 


11. Land limitation to 150 acres: no person af- 
ter the passage of this law to become possessed of 
more than that amount of land. But when a land 
monopolist died, his heirs were to take each his le- 
gal number of acres, and be compelled to sell the 
overplus, using the proceeds as they pleased. 


12. Mails in the United States to run on the Sab- 
bath. 


These radical principles were enthusiastically en- 
dorsed by the workingmen, and were the basis upon 


IS OR 


which they founded the ‘‘ Workingmen’s Party,”——.. 


whose convention in 1830 nominated Mr. Ezekiel 
Williams for governor of New York. From 1830 
to 1840 the labor movement was more active than 
at any time previous to the rebellion. A law which. 
had been enacted in Massachusetts against unions 
was attacked in 1842, and a complete victory was 
won by the Journeymen Boatmakers. 

The Franklin Society of Printers, organized at 
Cincinnati in 1827, was the earliest of the printers’ 


"HOUUdS V SHNVN WOL LSHNOH 











ts) 
] 


tay HS 






































































































































































































































THE VOICE OF LABOR. 189 


unions. After a somewhat checkered career, a na- 
tional call was made, and the National Typograph- 
ical Union was formed in 1852. They became the 
International Typographical Union in 1869. They 
have over 355 local unions with a membership of 
over 18,000. 

In 1854, The National Trade Association of Hat 
Finishers was organized. The hatters, in their vari- 
ous divisions, have about 10,000 members. 

The Iron Molders’ Union was formed in 1859: it 
now has 300 subordinate unions with a member- 
ship of 20,000. 

The Machinists and Blacksmiths formed an or- 
ganization in 1858. In the following year they re- 
ceived the first union charter granted bythe United 
States government. They took the name of Mechan- 
ical Engineers of the United States of America in 
1877. 10,000 members. 

Despite serious opposition, the glass-blowers or- 
ganized at Philadelphia in 1848. In the various 
divisions of their organization they now have about 
30,000 members. 

The Brotherhood of the Foot-Board was Roreuniped 
in 1863. The locomotive engineers have a mem- 
bership of over 20,000, and now are known as ‘‘The 
Grand International Brotherhood of Locomotive 
Engineers.” The locomotive firemen, also, have a 
brotherhood, with a membership of 17,000, which 
was formed in 1873, and is now known as ‘The 
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.” 


190 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


The first union of the cigar-makers was formed 
in 1851, and since have acquired a combined mem’ 
bership of 30,000. 

The bricklayers and stone-masons, organized in 
1865, has a register of over 16,000 members, and is 
well organized. 

In 1866, ‘‘The Patrons of usbandee B other- 
wise known as the National Grange, was formed, 
and now has over 800,000 members. It is only 
rivaled by the Knights of Labor in size. 

The railway conductors perfected their organiza- 
tion in 1879, and are now called the ‘‘Order of 
Railway Conductors.” Membership about 8,000. 
The boot and shoe men organized in 1869, but 

failed in the general strike of 1873. 

The National German-American Typographical 
Union began in 1873, and now has a roll of about 
1,200 members. | 

The union, from which the National Horse-shoers 


Union was formed, was organized in 1849. The. 


present organization was perfected in 1874, and has 
5,784 members. 

The ‘‘Sovereigns of Industry” formed in 1874, and 
four years later had 180,000 members. The order 
failed in 1880, and in 1886 was re-organized. Its 
object is co-operation and to shut out the ‘‘middle- 
man” in all departments of business. 

The iron workers organized two unions in 1878, 
called the Associated Brotherhood of Iron and Steel 


Heaters, and the Iron and Steel Roll-hands’ Union. _ 


td mee ae Cis: Poe 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 191 


They combined with the Sons of Vulcan in 1876, 
and arenow known as the Amalgamated Associa- 
tion of Iron and Steel Workers. They number in 
all, 60,000. : 

The Granite-cutters National Union was formed 
in 1877. 

In 1878, the organization named the Lake Sea- 
men’s Union was organized, and now has a mem- 
bership of 8,000. 

The Lasters’ Protective Union of New England 
was organized in 1879, has fifty-eight branches and 
7,860 members. 

The members of the International Brotherhood 
of Boilermakers, and Iron Shipbuilders and Help- 
ers, have a membership of 20,000. These work- 
men first organized in 1880. 

The Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of 
America is the outgrowth of previous organizations, 
the first of which was formed in 1854. The pres- 
_ ent name was taken in 1881. It has about 42,500 
members. There is also an United Order of Car- 
penters. 

In 1883, the National Hatmakers’ Union was or- 
ganized. 

The railroad brakemen formed their National 
Brotherhood in 1884, and now have 18,000 members. 

The National Federation of Miners and Mine La- 
borers is a combination of various coal and mining 
organizations, and has a roll of 90,000 members. 
The present order adopted its name in 1885. 


1199 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


In 1886 the Journeymen Bakers’ National Union 
was formed, and has a present membership of 25,000. 

The Switchmen’s Mutual Aid Association was or- 
ganized in 1886. Its membership is 5,000. 

The Custom Tailors’ National Union has 18,000 
members; the Telegraph Operators and Linemen 
have 10,000 members; the House Painters, 10,000; 
the Coopers’ Union, 10,000; the Furniture Work- 
ers, 10,000; and the Mule Spinners (in the cotton 
factories), number 5,000. There are, perhaps, a 
score of other organizations whose membership is 
less than 5,000. 

The most powerful organization of workingmen 
extant, isthe Knights of Labor. 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 193 


CHAPTER XIII. 


THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 


THE CAUSE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION—THE GREAT POW- 
ER OF THE ORDER——_URIAH STEVENS, THE FOUNDED 
— EARLY HISTORY—STRUGGLES—ATTACKED BY PUL- 
PIT AND PRESS — ITS GROWTH — CHARACTER OF ITS 
MEMBERS—WHO THEY ARE—- PRESENT NUMBER—A 
SEMI-SECRET ORDER — THEIR PREAMBLE AND PLAT- 
FORM OF PRINCIPLES — MANNER OF JOINING — WHO 
ARE ELIGIBLE —— LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE 





KNIGHTS 
—PASS-WORDS, SIGNS AND GRIPS——-WOMEN AS MEM- 
BERS—INTERESTING INFORMATION —— BIOGRAPHY OF 


LOCAL, DISTRICT AND GENERAL ASSEMBLIES 


MR. POWDERLY—THE OFFICERS—THE EXECUTIVE COM- 
MITTEE——A DESCRIPTION OF THE MANAGEMENT. 


THe exigencies of the workingmen in the United 
States have been the cause of creating the largest 
and most powerful organization, wholly devoted to 
the interests of labor, that the world has ever 
known. 

The history of the Knights of Labor, until the last 
few years, has not been sufficiently eventful to at- 
tract general attention, but the events of 1886 


194 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


proved conclusively that organization of the work-— 


ingmen throughout the land had been perfected up- 
on an unparalleled scale, and that it had grown in- 
to the position of being one of the most potent 
factors of this decade as a social and industrial force. 
The growth of the order has been phenomenal, both 
in number and for reaching strength. Its history, 
and its influence upon industry, have become matters 
for the historian. 

The originator of this vast organization was 
Uriah Stephens, a tailor by trade, of Philadelphia, 
who was born in Cape May County, New Jersey, 
in 1821. 

In October, 1869, the ‘‘ Garment-Cutters’ Society” 
of that city grew discouraged, and its members de- 
termined to dissolve their society. Immediately 
after the close of their last meeting, Uriah Stephens 
consulted with James L. Wright, I. M. Hilser, R. 
C. McCauley, William Cook, RK. M. Keen, and 
James L. Kennedy, upon the advisability of form- 
ing a new union. All of them were clothing cutters. 
The plan proposed by Mr. Stephens was discussed 
and met with hearty approval. 

After several informal meetings, the men above 
named, with several others, met at Mr. Stephens’ 
house on Thanksgiving day, 1869, and the associa- 
ation now known as the Knights of Labor was 
formed. The chief idea of their organization 
was a national union of wage earners of all 
classes. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 195 


The members were bound to secrecy, and the 
existence of their society was unknown _ out- 
side of their own number for several years. Like 
all great enterprises, the order developed slowly at 
first, but it grew in strength and gradually gaineda 
foothold in the estimation of workingmen. 

The method adopted for calling a meeting was 
the marking of five stars upon the front of Inde- 
pendence Hall. This singular and mysterious sign 
never failed to bring together thousands of the 
working class, and it was the cause of much adverse 
comment, both from the press and the pulpit. Be- 
cause the object and principles of the order were 
unknown and miscomprehended, the organization 
was bitterly condemned on all sides, and the Catho- 
lic church added its denunciation to the general 
deluge of adverse criticism. 

At this time the order had 80,000 members, but 
during the succeeding five years their number ma- 
terially decreased, and in 1883 the roll fell to 52,000 
members. In 1871 their present name was adopted. 
Previous to the publishing of the objects of the 
order, its simple plan and general utility every- 
where met with favor, and workingmen in all of the 
eastern and middle states were rapidly enrolled. 

Amid this clamor of defamation the leaders de- 
cided to make public their aims and the ultimate 
object of the society. In June, 1878, Mr. Stephens, 
G. M. W., signed a special call for a meeting, at 
which he said they had met ‘to consider the ex- 


196 THE VOICE OF LABOR.. 


pediency of making the name of the order public, | 


for the purpose of defending it from the fierce as- 
saults and defamation made upon it by press, cler- 
‘gy and corporate capital, and to take such further 
action as shall effectually meet the grave emer- 
gency.” 

There is a widespread opinion that the Knights 
of Labor are solely recruited from the ranks of la- 
borers and mechanics, but this is not the case. 
Among their number may be found men and wo- 
men of all producing occupations. The growth of 
the order has been such that over three hundred new 
assemblies have been formed in a single month. The 
total number of Knights, in the United States and 
Canada, is estimated to be over ONE MILLION. 

There is not a branch of labor, trade or profes- 
sion that exists, that cannot furnish material for a 
Knights of Labor assembly, and the occupations as 
are not organized are joined together in separate 
assemblies. This order is not only because of its 
numerical strength, but more especially on account 
of its almost certain future, the most important la- 
bor combination ever conceived. 

The name may or may not be well chosen. Many 
of the Knights have expressed themselves to the 
effect that the term is too much like those of orders 
with which the Knights are distinctly at war. It 
was this feeling which prompted them to change the 
official name of their chief executive from ‘“‘ Grand” 
to that of “ General Master Workman.” Contrary 


a Ab pgs eli oe 
2 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 197 


to current belief, the Knights of Labor is only a 
semi-secret order. Members are not now oath- 
bound, but are simply obligated upon word of hon- 
or to keep silent as to the workings and proceedings 
of the organization. On the other hand, one Knight 
is not permitted to reveal another’s connection with 
the order without the latter’s consent. Asa general 
rule, the work done by local general assemblies is 
done secretly, as expediency demands. 

The preamble and platform of principles of 
the order, as narrated in their various organs, is 


_ briefly summarized as follows: 


The alarming development and aggressiveness of 
great capitalists and corporations, unless checked, 
will mevitably lead to the pauperization and hope- 
less degradation of the toiling masses. 

It is imperative, if we desire to enjoy the full bless- 
ings of life, that a check be placed upon unjust 
accumulation, and the power for evil of aggregated 
wealth. 

This much desired object can be accomplished 
only by the united efforts of those who obey the di- 
vine injunction, ‘‘In the sweat of thy face shalt 
thou eat bread.” 

Therefore we have formed the Order of Knights 
of Labor, for the purpose of organizing and direct- 
ing the power of the industrial masses, not as a po- 
litical party, for it is more—in it are crystalized sen- 
timents and measures for the benefit of the whole 
people, but it should be borne in mind, when exer- 


+ 


198 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


cising the right of suffrage, that most of the objects 
herein set forth can only be obtained through legis- 
lation, and that it is the duty of all to assist in nom- 
inating and supporting with their votes only such 
candidates as will pledge their support to these 
measures, regardless of party. But no one shall, 
however, be compelled to vote with the majority, 
and calling upon all who believe in securing ‘the 
greatest good to the greatest number,” to join 
and assist us, we declare to the world that our 
alms are: 

I. To make industrial and moral worth, not 
wealth, the true standard of individual and Nation- 
al greatness. 

II. To secure to the workers the full enjoyment 


of the wealth they create, sufficient leisure in which + 


to develop their intellectual, moral and social facul- 
ties; all of the benefits, recreation and pleasures of 


associations; in a word, to enable them to.share in | 


the gains and honors of advancing civilization. 


In order to secure these results, we demand at the 
hands of the Stats: 

III. The establishment of Bureaus of Labor Sta- 
tistics, that we may arrive at a correct knowledge of 
the educational, moral and financial condition of 
the laboring masses. 

IV. That the public lands, the heritage of the 
people, be reserved for actual settlers; not another 
acre for railroads or speculators, and that all lands 


* 


Es ee ee 


Cy ae re 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 199 


now held for speculative purposes be taxed to their 
full value. 

V. The abrogation of all laws that do not bear 
equally upon capital and labor, and the removal of 
unjust technicalities, delays and discriminations in 
the administration of justice. 

VI. The adoption of measures providing for the 
health and safety of those engaged in mining, man- 
ufacturing and building industries, and for indem- 
nification to those engaged therein for injuries re- 
ceived through lack of necessary safeguards. 

VII. The recognition by incorporation, of trades, 
unions, orders, and such other associations as may 
be organized by the working masses to improve 
their condition and protect their rights. 

VIII. The enactment of laws to compel corpora- 
tions to pay their employes weekly, in lawful mon- 
ey, for the labor of the preceding week, and giv- 
ing mechanics and laborers a first lien upon the 
products of their labor to the extent of their full 
wages. 

IX. The abolition of the contract system on Na- 
tional, State and Municipal works. 

X. The enactment of laws providing for arbitra- 
tion between employers and employed, and to en- 
force the decision of the arbitrators. 

XI. The prohibition by law of the employment 
of children under fifteen years of age in workshops, 
mines and factories. 


200 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


XII. To prohibit the hiring out of convict labor. 
XIII. That a graduated income tax be levied. 
And we demand at the hands of Congress: 

XIV. The establishment of a National monetary 
system, in which a circulating medium in necessary 
quantity shall issue direct to the people, without the 
intervention of banks; that all the National issue 
shall be full legal tender in payment of all debts, 
public and private; and that the Government shall 
not guarantee or recognize any private banks, or 
create any banking corporations. 

XV. That interest bearing bonds, bills of credit 
or notes shall never be issued by the Government, 
but that, when need arises, the emergency shall be 
met by issue of legal tender, non-interest bear- 
ing money. 

XVI. The importation of foreign labor under 
contract be prohibited. 

XVII. That in connection with the postoftice, the 
Government shall organize financial exchanges, safe 
deposits and facilities for deposit of the savings of 
the people in small sums. 

XVIII. That the Government shall obtain pos- 
session, by purchase, under the rights of eminent 
domain, of all telegraphs, telephones and railroads, 
and that hereafter no charter or license be is- 
sued to any corporation for construction or opera- 
tion of any means of transporting intelligence, pas- 
sengers or freight. 

And while making the foregoing demands upon - 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 201 


the State and National Government, we will endeav- 
or to associate our own labors. 


XIX. To establish co-operative institutions, such 
as will tend to supercede the wage system, by the 
introduction of a co-operative industrial system. 


XX. To secure for both sexes equal pay for 
equal work. 3 

XXI. To shorten the hours of labor by a general 
refusal to work for more than eight hours. 


XXII. To persuade all employers to agree to ar- 
bitrate all differences which may arise between them 
and their employes, in order that the bonds of sym- 
pathy between them may be strengthened, and that 
strikes may be rendered unnecessary. 


The manner of joining the order and the forming 
of local assemblies is of interest, and the following 
comments are given for the benefit of the uniniti- 
ated: 

Any female of the age of sixteen, or any male of 
the age of eighteen, whether manufacturer, em- 
ployer of any kind, wage-worker or farmer, is eligi- 
ble to become a member, except lawyers, bankers, 
professional gamblers, stock brokers, and any per- 
son who makes, or sells, or derives any of his support 
from the sale of intoxicating drink; but at least 
three-fourths of every local assembly must be com- 
posed of wage-workers or farmers. 

No local assembly can be organized with less 


than ten members. 
14 


202 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Assemblies may be formed of any particular trade 
or calling, or they may be composed of all trades. 
The latter are termed ‘‘ mixed” assemblies. 

Assemblies can only be instituted by regularly 
commissioned organizers. 

The charter fee is $16, which must be paid to the 
organizer, and for which will be sent a charter, seal 
and supplies. The expenses of the organizer are 
not included in the charter fee, but vary according 
to the distance traveled. 

Under the laws of the Order the initiation fee 
cannot be less than one dollar for men and fifty 
cents for women. 

The amount of local dues is regulated by each 
local assembly, but cannot be less than ten cents 
per month. 

The Order also has a Benefit Insurance Associa- 
tion, on the co-operative plan, which went into op- 
eration November 1, 1883. The membership fee is 
$1.25, and on the death or total disability of a mem- 
ber, an assessment of only twenty-five cents is made. 
Until the membership is sufficient to pay $500, the 
amount of benefits will be regulated by the receipts 
from assessments. 

After a local assembly is formed, a candidate 
must be proposed by a member in good standing, 
who has an acquaintance with the applicant. 

The Order of the Knights of Labor is not a mere 
trade union, or benefit society; neither is it a polit- 
ical party. Some of the specific aims and objects 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 903 


of the Order are set forth in the preamble and de- 
claration of principles published from week to 
week, but any and every measure calculated to 
advance the interests of the wage-workers, morally, 
socially or financially, comes within the scope of 
the Order. To abolish as rapidly as possible, the 
wage system, substituting co-operation therefor; the 
settlement of all difficulties between employer and 
employe by arbitration; to educate the members to 
an intelligent use of the ballot, for their own bene- 
fit and protection, free from restraint of party or 
the undue influence of employers or monopolies; 
opposition to land, transportation, currency and 
all other monopolies that affect the interests of 
the masses, and the protection of all its members 
in the exercise of all their rights as citizens, are 
_ some of the principal objects of the Order. 

Believing that these objects can be best secured 
through a thorough organization of all branches of 
‘honorable toil, those who are not already members 
are cordially invited, and if they approve of the Or- 
der, to secure the requisite number of persons to 
form a local assembly in their locality, an organiz- 
er will proceed to arrange a date for founding the 
assembly. 

Five or more local assemblies in any locality, 
within a reasonable distance of each other, may form 
a district assembly, for the better protection and re- 
gulation of trade matters. 

Local assemblies, located at any distance from 


204 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


a district assembly, are attached directly to the gen- 
eral assembly. 

The general assembly meets annually on the first 
Monday in October at such place as may be selected 
at each session, and is the highest tribunal of the 
Order. The general assembly is composed of gen- 
eral officers and representatives from the district 
assemblies and local assemblies attached to the 
general assembly. 

The revenue of the general assembly is derived 
from the sale of supplies and a per capita tax of 
six cents per quarter for every member in good 
standing. 

Each local assembly has control of its own funds, 
and local co-operative enterprises are encouraged. 

The Order has a secret work, consisting of pass- 
words, signs and a grip, for the protection of the 
meetings against those not members, and against 
expelled or suspended members. 

Each member is required to take apledge of honor, 
upon joining, to obey all the laws of the Order, and 
not to reveal any of the business or secret work of 
the Order. No oath is taken. 

There is nothing in the laws or workings of the 
Order to interfere wiih the religious views of any 
member. 

Each local assembly is known by a number, as- 
signed by the general secretary. Each local will 
also choose a suitable name upon organization. 

Local assemblies attached to the districts have to 





URIAH STEPHENS, 
Founder of the K. of &. 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 207 


pay-an additional per capita tax, of such amount as 
may be fixed by each district assembly, for the sup- 
port of the same. 

Women may become members of the Knights of 
Labor under the same laws and regulations as men, 
and may form local and district assemblies; but the 
charter fee ofa local assembly, composed wholly of 
women, is $11. The initiation fee for women is fifty 
cents. 

The Order has an official paper known as the 
‘Journal of United Labor,” published semi-month- 
ly by the general secretary, and each local assembly 
is required to subscribe for at least one copy each 
year, as it is the organ of official communications 
from the general master workman and general sec- 
retary of the Order. 

At the death of Uriah Stephens in 1879, the man- 
tle of General Master Workman fell upon Mr. T. 
V. Powderly, of Scranton, Pa. 

Terrence Vincent Powderly is of Irish parentage, 
and was born at Carbondale, Pa., January 24, 1849, 
and was the youngest son in a family of twelve 
children. Before reaching his majority he went to 
Scranton and entered a railroad machine shop, where 
he received $2.50 a day. While there he took a 
commercial course of study, became a member of a 
literary and debating society, and laid the foundation 
of his success as a public speaker and a convincing 
writer. 7 

He soon joined the Knights of Labor, and became 


208 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


a leader in the local labor committee of Scranton. 
Shortly afterwards he formed the personal acquaint- 
ance of Uriah Stephens: and was elected as the 
head of the organization at Scranton. 

He urged pacific measures and moderation dur- 
ing the strikes of 1877, and his advice was the 
means by which much property was saved from de- 
struction. He is an eloquent speaker, and his suc- 
cess as a leader of men is due to his broad and lib- 
eral ideas, combined with sincere purpose and clear 
judgment. 

Under Mr. Powderly’s control, the Knights of 
Labor has attained its present strength and import- 
ance. His mettle and aims are fully expressed in 
the preamble and declaration of principles of the 
order, which has been scattered broadcast through- 
out the land. 

He has served as Mayor of Scranton, but has in- 
variably declined to accept various political nomin- 
ations which have been tendered him, among which 
was that for Governor. 

Richard Griffiths, of Chicago, was elected Gener- 
al Worthy Foreman in 1879, and after serving as 
General Treasurer two terms, was elected to his 
present office October 13, 1886. 

Charles H. Litchman was elected General Secre- 
tary in 1878, and has since held the same office. He 
has been a member of the Massachusetts legislature. 
He lives in Philadelphia. 

Frederick Turner is General Treasurer, and has 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 209 


held the office of Secretary and Treasurer since 1883. 

The Executive Board of the organization is made 
up by the following gentlemen: 

Thomas B. Barry, East Saginaw, Michigan; John 
W. Hays, New Brunswick, New Jersey; William 
H. Bailey, Shawnee, Ohio; Albert A. Carlton, 
Somerville, Massachusetts; Thomas B. McGuire, 
New York City; Ira B. RNA, Baluiors. 
Maryland. 

The officers of a local assembly are Master Work- 
man, Worthy Foreman, Venerable Sage (retired 
Master Workman), Recording and Financial Secre- 
tary, Treasurer, Worthy Inspector, Almoner, Un- 
known Knight, Inside and Outside Esquires, Insur- 
ance Solicitor and three Trustees. 

The officers of state assemblies correspond to those 
of the local assembly, and the general office term 
is two years. 


210 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS. 


A CAUSE OF RECENT STRIKES —- WHY WORKINGMEN 
STRIKE—STATISTICS OF STRIKES IN 1880—suUCCESSES 
AND FAILURES—COMPLETE REVIEW OF THEIR EFFECT 
—AMOUNT OF LOSS INCURRED —- AGGREGATE LOSSES 
IN APRIL AND MAY, 1886 — PUBLIC SYMPATHY FOR 
STRIKERS—POWDERLY ON STRIKES—GREAT THOUGHTS 
—THE POWER OF WHALTH GIVING WAY TO JUSTICE 





AND RIGHT — A NEW POWER DAWNING UPON THE 
WORLD—A BRIGHT FUTURE AT HAND—IDEAS FOR 
WORKINGMEN TO THINK AND ACT UPON. 


One of the effects resulting from the rapid organ- 
ization of the unions during the last decade, is an 
epidemic of strikes. It is needless to say, that so- 
ber and intelligent workingmen throughout the coun- 
try do not throw down their tools and leave their 
benches without provocation. A week’s wages is 
more to a workingman than it is to his employer, 
for the simple reason that it means a week’s provis- 
ion for himself and family, while his employer only 
suffers a diminution of his capital. The workingman 


THE YOICE OF LABOR. 911 


strikes* because he feels the weight of manifest in- 
justice, and seeks thereby to secure redress for his 
grievances. 

There is no doubt but strikes have been precipitat- 
ed from causes that could have been removed by 
more pacific measures; often better results could 
have been secured. Instances can be cited where 
petty reasons and personal animosity have been the 
cause of strikes, but such cases are few. These 
movements, as a rule, have been efforts to,better the 
condition of labor, and great good has resulted, not- 
withstanding the fact they have been generally un- 
successful. 

Mr. Joseph D. Weeks, of the census bureau, says 
in a report on the strikes and lockouts of 1880, that 
it is evident that these labor disturbances are grow- 
ing less frequent. The number of strikes in certain 
of the prominent trades, as given in the report, is as 
follows: Iron and steel industries, 236; coal mining, 
158; textile trades, 46; cigar-making, 42; building 
trades, 36; transportation, 36; printing trades, 28; 
glass industries, 27; piano-making, 14; boot and 
shoe makings 11. 

Much the greater proportion (714 per cent) of the 
strikes and lockouts reported upon, were caused by 
differences as to rates of wages. A total of 503, or 
about 86 per cent of those relating to wages, or 62 
per cent of all, were for an advance, and 77, or 14 
per cent, of those relating to rates of wages, or 94 
per cent of all, were against a reduction. 


912 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Of 481 strikes—59 per cent of the whole—169, 
or 85 per cent, were successful; 85, or 13 per cent, 
were compromised, and 227, or 47 per cent, were un- 
successful. Of 807 strikes for an advance, 127, or 
41 per cent, were successful; 62, or 20 per cent, 
were compromised, and 118, or 39 per cent, were un- 
successful. Of 45 strikes or lockouts against or for 
a reduction, 3 only were successful, 8 were compro- 
mised, and 34 were unsuccessful. 

Of 20 gtrikes in connection with payment of 
wages, 11, or 35 per cent, were successful, 6 were 
compromised, and three were unsuccessful. Every 
strike in connection with hours of labor, of which the 
result is given, was unsuccessful. In questions rela- 
ting to administration and methods of work, the 
strikes were, as a rule, unsuccessful. Of 813 stop- 
pages by causes reported upon, 610, or 88 per cent, 
were strikes; 85, or 12 per cent, were lockouts. 

Of 610 classified as strikes, the results of 369 are 
given. Of these, 143, or 39 per cent, were success- 
ful; 156, or 42 per cent, were unsuccessful, and 70, 
or 19 percent, were compromised. Of 85 lockouts, 
the results of 52 are given. Of these 10, or 19 per 
cent, were successful; 34, or about 65 per cent, were 
unsuccessful, while 8, or about 15 per cent, were 
compromised. 

In 414 strikes, the number of men idle were 128,- 
262, making an average of about 310 men to each 
strike. Of these, 64,779 lost $3,711,097, or $57 each. 
The total loss in wages is estimated at $13,003, 866. 


> 
THE VOICE OF LABOR. 213 


When the strikes were successful, the additional 
wages compensated for a portion of this loss. 

The theory and practice of strikes is greatly differ- 
ent to-day from that of the past. Intelligent leaders 
have perfected organization, and the: working- 
man has never been better prepared to combat his 
wrongs and secure his just dues. Labor is now aware 
that in organization lies the true channel to a high- 
er plane and a better condition, and with due regard 
for the law of the land, itis destined to accomplish a 
righteous advancement. 

The following is a statement of the aggregate of 
losses incident upon the strikes in April and May, 
1886. 


Current New Business 


Wages. Business. Stopped. 
New York City. ..$300,000 $300,000 $2,000,000 
Philadelphia ..... 60,000 50,000 5,000,000 
Smaller Pa. cities. 70,000 Ds OOO erecete Sica te 
Detroit, Mich..... 97,000 25,000 850,000 
Cincinnati... ..... 375,000 300,000 1,000,000 


Milwaukee. ...... 466,000 200,000 4,000,000 
New England cities 275,000 ........ 6,000,000 
bee el sale ahs OOO 


LONE aN ey a ten ae eas DUO aS otin «, See 150,000 
Washington, D.C.. 54,000 ......... 2,000,000 
Indianapolis....... AIO De oe eects erga Sar 
Bittsburghy:). 02520280, 000 75,000 300, 000 


Louisville, Ky.... 23.000 5,000 500,000 
Coal strikes...... 200,000 500,000 Indeterm’e 
Chicago. ........ 700,000 700,000 3,000,000 





a 


Totals... .. .. $2,802,000 2,105,000 24,800,000 
MET AVeELOLAl Caen ce oe ried oe eles ea, $29.707.000 


914 THE VOICE.OF LABOR. 


In commenting upon this statement, the ‘‘Loco- 
motive Firemen’s Magazine” says: ‘‘We presume 
the foregoing figures are largely guess work, mere 
approximations, anc that there are those who would 
probably place sum totals much higher, and this 
could be done, we apprehend, while a strict regard 
for facts would be maintained. It will be admitted, 
we think, that the larger the sum total of losses oc- 
casioned by strikes, the more aggravating must be 
the causes which produce them. The trouble is that 
men contemplate the losses and lose sight of the 
wrongs which provoke them. The losses to such 
people obscure the wrongs. Fortunately there are 
those who, though the losses by strikes are enor- 
mous, maintain that the wrongs which produce strikes 
and occasion the losses demand first consideration, 
and they are right in their conclusions. 

Take any of the industrial enterprises that have 
suffered losses by the recent strikes, and employers 
select the most expressive terms in speaking of their 
losses and to magnify the rectitude of their treat- 
ment of employes, as also the base ingratitude of 
those who struck. They are in positions to obtain the 
publie ear—they have money and influence, and are 
the first to command audience. They never did say 
the employe was right—always wrong. The strik- 
ers come in later, and often after the verdict of the 
public has been rendered. 

If the strike touches the transportation interests 
of the country, railroads or water transportation, or, 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 915 


if as in the case of the telegraph strike, it interferes 
with the transmission of intelligence, the strikers find 
at once that overwhelming opposition confronts 
them, forthough the great public may not believe the 
strikers in the wrong, or may believe that their griey- 
ances are aggravating, still, as the method of redress 
involvesthe public in embarrassments and inconve- 
niences, it demands that the strikers shall resume 
work or that others shall be employed in their places, 
regardless of the wrongs complained of, and as a 
consequence the wrongs which led to the strike are 
obscured. Take as an illustration the telegraph 
strike which occurred some years ago. 

The real investment made by the owners of 
the telegraph lines amounted to about $40,000- 
000. The stock of the corporation had been water- 
ed until* it swelled to $80,000,000. Now to de- 
clare dividends on $80,000,000, it became neces- 
sary to reduce the wages of employes. But when 
the employes struck it was difficult for them to get 
before the public the stupendous iniquity which pro- 
voked the wrong.. The public demanded service 
without regard to wages, this demand strength- 
ened the corporation, and as a consequence, when 
the strike ended, the wrong existed as when 
the strike began. The strikers suffered. The 
corporation came off with flying colors. Final- 
ly the great public condemned the corporation, but 
the condemnation resulted in no harm to the cor- 
poration nor benefit to the wronged employes, 


216 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


It is not to be presumed that there will never be 
another telegraph strike. On the contrary, the 
probabilities are there will be another strike one of 
these days. Why? Simply because the flagrant 
wrong exists. It has not been removed. It has not 
been modified. Wrongs are like cancer. They eat their 
way to the surface. You must remove the roots or 
they will come again; hence, we observe, that the 
man who discusses the wrongs which produce 
strikes is a better statesman, a better citizen, and 
more of a philanthropist, than he who is eternally 
deploring the losses which strikes occasion, without 
giving a thought*to their cause. 

It is quite probable that men generally do not re- 
gard successful revolutions worth what they cost. 
Strikes are revolutions and rebellions combined. 
We read and speak of the American reyolution— 
the British call it a rebellion. Rebellion or revolu- 


tion, it was dear to England, because she provoked: 


it and lost. It was costly and bloody to the colo- 
nies, but they won, and yet they were colonists who 
were opposed to the revolution. They did not be- 
lieve that the tea tax and the stamp tax were of suf- 
ficient importance to warrant rebellion and revolu- 
tion. It is not to be presumed that the colonies 
would have rebelled because of the amount of mon- 
ey involved in the taxation imposed, but the impo- 
sition of the tax brought into prominence the insuf- 
ferable wrong of taxation without representation. 
It was taxation and chains, taxation and serfdom, 


Ten An SOR VLR ee 


aye in tit bch Re Sinan eC ie UAE eta g tia’ a Dae anit) led 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 217 


and hence the colonies struck for freedom and in- 
dependence, and had they been defeated in the-war 
of °76 they would still have been striking for the 
recognition of their rights. It goes for nothing to 
say that strikes are always expensive. The fact is 
universally admitted, but it is not true that strikes 
ought not to occur because they are costly. 

There is a way to prevent strikes, as there was a 
way in 1776 to have prevented the war of the re- 
volution. Had England acted justly, there would 
have been no war, and if employers would act just- 
ly towards their employes there would be fewer 
strikes, or strikes would forever disappear from the 
industrial records of the country. Arbitration, com- 
promise, reasoning together, should always precede 
a strike, but as certainly as rivers flow to the sea, 
when injustice is continued in spite of such things, 
strikes will come, and the more wide-spread the in- 
justice the more terrible will be the consequences of 
strikes. 

Manifestly, thinking men, who have the welfare 
of society at heart, are becoming profoundly inter- 
ested in the labor problems of the day. They see 
distinctly that there must be less injustice or more 
strikes. If more strikes, then more turbulence, more 
losses, more mobs, more collisions, more blood, 
more demoralization. As a consequence, congress 
is discussing remedies, and the same is true of leg- 
islatures throughout the country; the supreme idea 


being to remove causes for strikes, enthrone justice 


SERRE EN ap TS ante Ly 


Berle sy ee, eae a ees Dotty saa nar ut ® Mie erate Bee CaN bea Cb a Pr 





218 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


and right and overcome wrong. We regard the 
signs of the times as cheering. We believe that 
strikes in the future will be less frequent, because 
we believe the working men will see that the great. 
public heart is throbbing responsive to their de- 
mands for justice. The press of the country is 
evincing deep solicitude in the welfare of working- 
men. The pulpit is taking a hand in the discussion, 
but above all, and better than all, workingmen them- 
selves have resolved that they will master the pro- 
blems, and by logic and law, and by the intelligent 
use of the ballot, remedy many of the evils of which 
they justly complain.” 


GENERAL MASTER WORKMAN POWDERLY 
ON STRIKES: 


‘¢ The prospect for the future of the laboring man 
in America, is brighter to day than it ever was, 
notwithstanding the seemingly ‘strained rela- 
tions’ at present existing between employer and 
employe. 

‘«That we are passing through an epidemic of — 
strikes, lockouts, and boycotts, is true, but the fact 
must not be lost sight of that were it not for the 
growing power of organization, we should have a 
great many more strikes to contend with than we 
have had. 

‘‘The growth of organization for the last ten years | 
has been steady and healthy. It is only where orga- 
nization is in its infancy, that serious troubles such 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 219 


as strikes and lockouts exist. The causes from 
which strikes and lockouts spring, are to be found in 
all parts of the country, but the methods of dealing 
with the troubles as they arise are different. In places 
where no organizations of labor exist, or where the 
seeds of organization have just been planted, dis- 
puting parties are apt to become involved in strikes. 
The reasons advanced in support of that proposition 
are as follows: Until recently very few working- 
men dared to express their opinion in public on the 
subject of labor, for the reason that they were al- 
most certain of an immediate dismissal from the ser- 
vice of the man or company they worked for, if it 
became known that they in any way favored the 
association of workingmen for mutual protec- 
tion. 

‘¢With such asentiment existing in the breasts of 
-workingmen, they could not be expected to feel very 
kindly toward the employer, who so jealously 
watched their every movement, and who, by his 
actions, made them feel that they were regarded 
rather as serfs than freemen. While the real bone 
and sinew of the land remained in enforced silence, ex- 
cept where it could be heard through the medium of 
the press and rostrum, through chosen leaders, anoth- 
er class of men who seldom worked, would insist 
on ‘representing labor,’ and in making glowing 
speeches on the rights and wrongs of man, would 
urge the ‘abolition of property’ or the ‘ equal divis- 
ion of wealth;’ such speakers very often suggest- 





920 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ing that a good thing to do would be to ‘ hang cap- 
italists to lamp-posts.’ 

‘‘The employer of labor who listened to sucn 
speeches, felt that in suppressing organization among 
his workmen he was performing a laudable act. Yet 
he was, by that means, proving himself to be the 
most powerful ally the anarchist could wish for. 
He caused his employes to feel that he took no in- 
terest in them, other than to get as many hours of 
toil out of them for as few shillings as possible. 
The consequence was that the employer, who was 
himself responsible for the smothering of the hon- 
est expression of opinion on the part of labor, be- 
came possessed of the idea that the raw-head and 
bloody-bones curbstone orator was the real repre- 
sentative of labor, and determined to exercise more 
vigilance and precaution than ever in keeping his 
‘help’ out of the labor society. | 

‘‘The speaker who hinted at, or advocated, the 
destruction of property or the hanging of capi- 
talists to lamp-posts, was shrewd enough to speak 
very kindly and in a knowing manner of labor as- 
sociations, giving out the impression that he held 
membership in one or more of them. Workingmen, 
who were denied the right to organize, very fre- 


quently went to hear Mr. Scientific lecture on the ~ 


best means of handling dynamite. And when the 
speaker portrayed the wrongs of labor, the thought: 
ful workman could readily trace a resemblance be- 














* 
4 ont 
Pie 


ri tue 


2 i 


on ee 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 223 


tween the employer painted by the lecturer and the 
man he himself worked for. 

‘¢ Workmen employed by those who frowned on 
labor organizations became sullen and morose; they 
saw in every action of the stiperintendent another 
- innovation on their rights, and they finally deter- 
mined to throw off the yoke of oppression, organize, 
and assert their manhood. ‘The actions of the su- 
perintendent, or boss, very often tended to widen 
the breach between employer and employe. When 
the organization did come, it found a very bitter 
feeling existing on both sides, and, before studying 
the laws of the society, they joined, or becoming 
conversant with its rules or regulations regarding 
the settlement of disputes or grievances, the work- 
men determined to wipe out of existence the whole 
system of petty tyrannies that had been practiced 
on them for years. Not being drilled in organiza- 
tion, and feeling that the employer would not treat 
with them, the only remedy suggesting itself was 
the strike. And, on the other hand, the employer, 
who felt that every move of his workmen in organ- 
ization would be directed against his interests, de- 
termined to take time by the forelock and turn 
them all out on the street. Thus we find the or- 
ganization in its infancy face to face with a strike 
or lockout. 

«Absorbed in the task of getting large dividends, 
the employer seldom inquired of his superintendent 
how he managed the business intrusted to his keep- 


924 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ing, or how he treated the employes. In thousands 
of places throughout the United States, many super- 
intendents, foremen, or petty bosses, are interested 
in stores, corner groceries, or saloons. In many 
places the employe is told plainly that he must deal 
at the store, or get his liquor from the saloon in 

which his boss has an interest; in others, he is given 

to understand that he must dea: in these stores or 
saloons, or forfeit his situation. Laws have been 

passed in some states against the keeping of com- 
pany stores, but the stores are kept nevertheless, 

and workmen are made to feel that they must pa- 
tronize them. 

‘¢In many cases, the owners of mills, factories or 
mines are not aware of the existence of such insti- 
tutions as the ‘pluck me’—the name applied to the 
company store—but they stand so far away from 
their employes that they cannot hear the murmur of 
complaint, and if a whisper of it ever does reach 
their ears it comes through the boss, who is not on- 
ly interested in the store, but in keeping its existence 
a secret from his employer. The keeping of such 
stores is another source of injustice to workmen, for 
their existence tends to widen the breach between 
employer and employe. It may seem that I 
am dealing with insignificant things, but when 
the statement is made that seven out of every 
ten superintendents, or bosses, are interested in the 
management and derive profits from the opera- 
tion of stores, which employes are forced to pa- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 925 


tronize, [ make an assertion which can be prov- 
ed: 

‘(In a country where every man, however hum- 
ble, is taught from his infancy that he stands the 
equal of all other men, it is but natural for a citizen 
who is given to understand that he must patronize 
a certain store, or that he cannot join a certain soci- 
ety, to feel restive, and, where so much is promised 
and so little obtained, men are apt to lose faith in a 
law-making system which obliges the workman him- 
self to become complainant and prosecutor in cases 
where the laws are violated to his detriment. If he 
prosecutes he is discharged. If he does not prose- 
cute for infractions of law, but simply complains, 
he is told to invoke the majesty of the law in his 
own behalf. In this way the law is disregarded; it 
becomes a dead letter; men lose hope in law and 
law-makers. 

‘The constant itching and irritation caused by 
the indifference of the employer to their welfare, 
and the injustice practiced on them by petty bosses, 
go on until the men feel that the only remedy 
is through the strike. In this way the men who 
belong to no organization are launched into 
strikes. 

‘‘Workingmen are not, as a rule, educated men. 
When the strike does come, while they feel that they 
have been wronged, yet they are lacking in the 
command of language necessary to state their case 
properly to the world, and hence set forth their 


2296 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


claims in such a way as to arouse prejudices or cre- 
ate false impressions. The other side having the 
advantage of education, either personally or by right 
of purchase, can and does mold public opinion in a 
great many cases. 

‘‘T have pointed out one or two of the little 
things which cause a great deal of uneasiness and 
vexation to workingmen; others have pointed out 
the root of the evil. The workingman of the Unit- 
ed States will soon realize that he possesses the 
power which kings once held—that he has the right 
to manage his own affairs. The power of the 
king has passed away. The power of wealth is 
passing away. The evening shadows are closing 
in upon the day when immense private fortunes can 
be acquired. The new power dawning upon the 
world is that of the workingman to rule his own 
destinies. That power can no longer be kept from 
him. How will he wield it? 

‘‘This question is of great concern not only to 
the workingman but to every citizen of the republic, 
and the hand of every citizen who loves his country 
should be extended to assist the newruler. Ihave 
no fears because of the present apparently disturbed 
condition of the labor world; on the contrary, the 
signs are very hopeful. Wendell Phillips once 
said: ‘Never look for an age when the people 
can be quiet and safe. At such times Despotism, 
like a shrouding mist, steals over the mirror of Free- 
dom.’ 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 22T 


‘“‘The people are not quiet to-day, but they are 
safe. It is the power of monopoly that is not safe. 
The men who pile up large fortunes must com. 
pensate for that privilege in the payment of 4 
graduated income tax. The blessings which they 
derive from wealth must be shared by the natior, 
from which they extract that wealth.” . 


228 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XV. 


EIGHT HOURS. 


EFFECT OF THE EIGHT HOUR AGITATION—NUMBER OF 
MEN IN THE MOVEMENT IN 1886 —— THE BENEFITS 
CLAIMED—LABOR NOT A COMMODITY—A BIRDS-EYE 
VIEW OF THE WORKING WORLD — THE AGENTS OF 
CORPORATIONS-—EXACTIONS ARE FETTERS—APPEALS © 
AND MUTTERED DISCONTENT—A GREAT PLEA—THIRST 
FOR KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE GRATIFIED—-ROBERT G. 
INGERSOLL’S ELOQUENT WORDS ON THE SUBJECT— 
HOURS OF LABOR SHOULD BE SHORTENED. 


Tue agitation for the reduction in the hours of la- 
bor was extremely active after the close of the war of 
the rebellion. Various conventions were held, demon- 
strations were made, and much discussion was had. 
Three classes of employers were created by the 
movement: Those who favored eight hours a day, 
and eight hours pay; Those who opposed reduction 
of either hours or pay, and those who were willing 
to concede ten hours pay for lessened time. 

The men generally failed to secure what they 
sought. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 929 


The history of 1867 has been repeated in re- 
cent efforts in the same direction, yet considerable 
gain is reported at various points. It is cal- 
culated that about 450,000 men participated in the 
eight-hour demand in 4886, of whom 185,000 were 
_ granted shorter hours. Strikes continued during the 
months of May and June,with a total loss in wages 
of $2,802,000, and a stoppage in new business to 
the amount of the enormous sum of $24,800,000. 
Both employers and workmen. find the eight-hour 
system to be impracticable in certain lines of busi- 
_ness, while in others, it is a most gratifying success. 

The chief benefits claimed for the eight-hour 
movement are: 1. Employment for all. 2. Steady 
employment. 3. Better wages. 4. Relief from anx- 
iety and poverty. 5. Time for improvement, re- 
creation, and home enjoyment. 

. ‘Labor is not a mere commodity or exclusive in- 
dividual property,” is the language of a reformer on 
this question. ‘‘It is human life and skill exerted to 
sustain human society through mutual exchange of 
works and services by means of money-wages. The 
application of physical forces in aid of human hands 
vastly increases production and the facilities of 
transportation, while the application of moral forces 
to the relations of employers and employes tends to 
distribute the beneficial results of civilized indus- 
tries among the whole people through high wages, 
cheap goods and services. The national com- 
bination of working people’s organizations enforces 


230 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


a rise in wages and a fall in profits, tending to 
equalize the standard of average living among the 
masses. The first cost of manufacture and trans- 
portation is getting minimized by the progress of 
discovery and invention, but the retail price paid 

for small distribution is yet very high, except in a 

few governmental services of water-works, post-. 
offices, etc. The wasteful system of retail trade 

greatly enhances the cost of living and withdraws 

large numbers of able-bodied persons from produc- 

tive labor. 

‘“‘The average term of employment for all work- 
ing people is not over nine months during the year, — 
so that there is always a certain per centage of com- 
pulsory idleness. High wages for efficient work is 
comtemporaneous with cheap goods; a spinner on 
the hand wheel with one spindle can turn off three 
pounds of No. 10 cloth yarn in a week, a mule- 
spinner about three hundred pounds; a hand-loom 
weaver can weave fifty yards of common shirting 
a week, and the product of the power-looms which 
the weaver in a factory would attend to is 1,500 
yards. Therefore, wages of the working people 
rise with the concentration of labor in great estab- 
lishments, while the cost price of goods and ser- 
vices fall in proportion to the enlargement of or- 
ganized labor in the processes of the manufacture. 
To enforce such general distribution of the benefits 
working in society, and by the best approved com- 
binations of capital and labor, is the aim of organ- 


“£BA-1OPUQ, SOAWJOMONOT JO JoQUINN sSB19Ay WIM ‘doqs 3alosig 


*SNHOM HAILOWOOOT 
































SATZV¥ HIGH) NO STATHH ONIATHO AAL ONIDAOS 


qOHS BIT AHL N} ONILAAIS AIMOd 












































¥ 
= 


er tae 7 


SPP 


Se See 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 2ao 


ized labor in all the contentions throughout civilized 
communities. 

‘¢ Fifty out of 500 trades and occupations are or- 
ganized, and have established their own daily wages. 
Many trades have been under paid, while the aris- 
tocracy of organized skilled labor has succeeded in 
grabbing $3 to $5 a day by keeping competition 
down to a minimum by restricting the number of 
apprentices. Human working time is the measure 
of wages. Piece-work is usually paid at a rate 
which takes into account how much the worker 
should earn during the whole working day on a cer- 
tain kind of work. By means of minute subdivis- 
ion of labor, and the employment of so-called help- 
ers—men, women, and children—the number of 
skilled mechanics and artisans has been minimized 
in the mammoth manufacturing establishments. 
This great mass of under paid working people is re- 
inforced by a class of small farmers, and by large 
numbers of the middle class of business men, who 
are driven into bankruptcy by the competition of 
large farming enterprises, or by the cheapness of 
work in the great manufactories and large retail 
establishments. 

‘‘The old industrial system of a well-defined 
subdivision into about fifty standard trades and oc- 
cupations, has entirely outlived its usefulness, and 
the working people are rising in their might to re- 
arrange a mode of living wages for all. Labor is 
only - small proportion of the first cost of an arti- 


934 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


cle, and its wages are paid by the whole people as 
final consumers of goods, and therefore an attempt 
for a general rise of wages for common labor need 
not raise the retail price of goods and services to 
any appreciable extent. But interest, rent, profit, 
and unnecessary expenses will have to be curtailed 
and wasteful styles of business abolished. The 
newspapers which sold for five cents are being grad- 
ually supplanted by papers which sell for one and 
two cents, without any reduction in wages of com- 
positors, reporters, editorial writers, or correspond- 
ents. When the trackmen, freight handlers, and 
other low-paid employes struck on Jay Gould’s 
railroad system, all well paid employes were reduced 
to compulsory idleness, and the public suffered 
great losses as a penalty for allowing the system of — 
starvation wages to exist. 

Wages must be leveled up and _ profits, in- 
terest, rent, and taxes leveled down. High rents 
are paid out of the proceeds of overworked 
and under paid employes as, for instance, the rents 
paid for mammoth dry goods and certain clothing 
stores, where male and female employes are paid such 
small pittances that they depend upon their parents 
to make up the deficits in their standard of living. 
The owners of business blocks in central locations 
get these enormous rents owing to the competition 
of merchants, who bid against each other for the 
small area of the business center. Extortionate 
rents mean starvation wages for cashboys, cash- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 235 


girls, salesladies, clerks, bookkeepers, and other 
help in wholesale and retail stores. In fact, the 
army of working people employed in distribution 
is outrageously overworked and under paid for the 
benefit of a comparatively small number of mer- 
chant princes and store keepers.” 

Between the men who pay the wages and the 
millions who receive them, there is not a proper re- 
cognition of the common ties of humanity. It is 
noticeable that when a man is placed in control of 
others, he soon learns to disregard their inter- 
ests and personal feelings. We see in corporations 
extinction of sympathy for its employes, and the 
term ‘soulless corporation,” is justly put. Through 
the superintendents, managers, presidents and direct- 
ors, the workingman may appeal, but he never 
reaches any one but an agent. There is no one per- 
sonally responsible to whom he may apply for the 
relief of a grievance. 

Every man who acts as an agent feels it to be 
his duty to demand and exact strict service from 
those under him, but he is not at liberty to make 
concessions. It is not strange that workingmen . 
are restive under this kind of supervision. They 
never come in contact with the power that can rem- 
edy their troubles, and show indulgence to their 
-wantsasmen. An agent listens to their complaints 
with impatience, and often discharges them if they 
betray discontent. 

The eorepemien of to-day feel it their right to 


236 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


have more time to themselves. The strict exactions | 
of corporations and agents have become fetters 
which chafe and irritate. Appeals and muttered dis- 
content have availed nothing, and the result has 
been a general demand and uprising for shorter 
hours. 

The greatest plea the workingman has for more 
time away from the shop, factory and bench is, that 
he seeks mental culture. No one can deny that 
thirst for knowledge is a most laudable craving, and 
it is one which should be gratified whenever demand- 
ed. Ignorance never increased the product of a 
nation. As a matter of right he is entitled to 
education, if he creates the wealth of the na- 
tion. 

‘‘Why should labor,” says Robert G. Ingersoll, 
‘fill the world with wealth and live in want? Ev- 
ery labor-saving machine should help the whole 
world. Everyone should tend to shorten the hours 
of labor. Reasonable labor is a source of joy. To 
work for wife and child, to toil for those you love 
is happiness, provided you can make them happy. 
But to work like a slave—to see your wife and chil- 
dren in rags—to sit at a table where food is coarse 
and scarce—rise at four in the morning—to work 
all day and throw your tired bones upon a miserable 
bed at night—to live without leisure, without rest, 
without making those you love comfortable and hap- 
py—this is not living—it is dying—a slow, linger- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 937 


ing, crucifixion. The hours of labor should be short- 
ened. With the vast and wonderful improvements 
of the nineteenth century there should be not oniy 
the necessaries of life for those who toil, but com. 
forts and luxuries as well.” 


238 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


ARBITRATION. 


ARBITRATION NOT AN EXPERIMENT—THE JUSTINIAN LAW 
-—--ENGLISH AND ROMAN LAW—JUDICIAL BOARDS OF 
ARBITRATION—-PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S MESSAGE ON 
THE QUESTION — RICHARD GRIFFITHS, G. W. F., ON 
ARBITRATION—-GEORGE RODGERS — FRENCH COURTS 
OF ARBITRATION — HOW THE GREAT BRICKLAYERS 
STRIKE IN CHICAGO WAS SETTLED-—JUDGE TULEY’S 
DECISION—ARBITRATION JUST FOR EMPLOYER AND 
WORKINGMEN—THE SCALES OF JUSTICE A TRUE BAL- 
ANCE. 


THERE is nothing new or experimental in the idea 
of adjusting differences by arbitration. The old 
Justinian law contains a detailed system for this 
method of settling disputes, the chief idea of which 
is the promptness and certainty of the settlement. 
The general derangement and injury to business is 
always a great evil attendant upon strikes and sim- 
ilar troubles. All of the European nations have 
adopted the practice of the principles found in the 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 939 


eighth section of the IV Pandects, and even Eng- 
land overrides the common law in her _prefer- 
ence for the Roman system. 

Various propositions have been made to establish 
judicial Boards, or Courts of Arbitration, for the 
settlement of the differences which continually 
arise between employers and employes, some of 
which are feasible and some are vagaries of illusion- 
ists. President Cleveland, prompted by the pres- 
sure of the great question of the workingman’s con- 
dition, sent the following message to congress: 

‘‘To THE SENATE AND House oF ReprEsENTATIVES: 
The constitution imposes on the president the duty 
of recommending to the consideration of congress, 
from time to time, such measures as he shall judge 
necessary and expedient. I amso deeply impressed 
with the importance of immediately and thoughtfully 
meeting the problem which recent events and a 
present condition have thrust upon us, involving the 
settlement of disputes arising between our laboring 
men and their employers, that I am constrained to 
recommend to congress legislation upon this se- 
rious and pressing subject. 

Under our form of government, the value of la- 
bor as an element of national prosperity should be 
distinctly recognized, and the welfare of the labor- 
ing man should be regarded as especially entitled 
to legislative care. In a country which offers to all 
its citizens the highest attainment of social and po- 
litical distinction, its workingmen cannot justly or 


940 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


safely be considered as irrevocably consigned to 
the limits of a class, and entitled to no attention, and 
allowed no protest against neglect. 

The laboring man, bearing in his hand an indis- 
pensable contribution to our growth and _ progress, 
may well insist, with manly courage and as a right, 
upon the same recognition from those who make 
our laws, as is accorded to any other citizen having 
a valuable interest in charge; and his reasonable de- 
mand should be met in such a spirit of appreciation 
and fairness, as to induce a contented and patriotic 
co-operation in the achievement of a grand national 
destiny. 

While the real interests of labor are not promot- 
ed by a resort to threats and violent manifestations, 
and while those who, under the pretext of an advo- 
cacy of the claims of labor, wantonly attack the 
rights of capital, and for selfish purposes or the love 
of disorder sow seeds of violence and discontent, 
should neither be encouraged nor conciliated, all 
legislation on the subject should be calmly and de- 
liberately undertaken with no purpose of satisfying 
unreasonable demands or gaining partisan advan- 
tage. 

The present condition of the relations between 
labor and capital are far from satisfactory. The 
discontent of the employed is due in a large degree 
to the grasping and heedless exactions of employ- 
ers and the alleged discriminations in favor of cap- 
ital as an object of governmental attention. It must 


gt 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. D471 


also be conceded that laboring men are not always 
careful to avoid causeless and unjustifiable disturb- 
ances. Though the importance of a better ac- 
cord between these interests is apparent, 1t must be 
borne in mind that any effort in that direction by 
the federal government must be greatly limited by 
constitutional restriction’. There are many grievan- 
ces which legislation by congress cannot redress 
and many conditions which cannot by such means 
be reformed. 

I am satisfied, however, that something may be 
done under federal authority to prevent the disturb- 
ances which so often arise by disputes between 
employer and employed, and which at times 
seriously threaten the business interests of the 
country; and, in my opinion, the proper theory 
on which to proceed is that of voluntary arbitration 
asthe means of settling these difficulties. But I sug- 
gest that, instead of arbitrators chosen in the heat 
of conflicting claims and after each dispute shall 
arise, there be created a commission of labor 
consisting of three members, who shall be regular 
officers of the government, charged, among other 
duties, with the consideration and settlement, when 
possible, of all controversies between labor and 
capital. 

A commission thus organized would have the ad- 
vantage of being a stable body, and its members, 
as they gained experience, would constantly im- 
prove in their ability to deal intelligently and use- 


a 


949 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


fully with questions which might be submitted to 
them. If arbitrators are chosen for temporary ser- 
vice as each case of dispute arises, experience and 
familiarity with much that is involved in the ques- 
tion will be lacking; extreme partisanship and bias 
will be the qualifications sought on either side, and 
frequent complaints of unfairness and _ partiality 
will be inevitable. 

The imposition upon a federal court of a duty 
foreign to the judicial function, as the selection of 
an arbitrator in such cases, is at least of doubtful 
propriety. The establishment by federal authority 
of such a bureau would be a just and sensible re- 
cognition of the value of labor and of its right to 
be represented in the departments of the govern- 
ment. So far as its conciliatory offices shall have 
relation to disturbances which interfered with tran- 
sit and commerce between the states, its existence 
would be justified under the provisions of the con- 
stitution which give to congress the power to regu- 
late commerce with foreign nations and among the 
several states. And in the frequent disputes be- 
tween the laboring men and their employers of less 
extent, and the consequences of which are confined 
within state limits, and threaten domestic violence, 
the interposition of such a commission might be 
tendered upon the application of the legislature or 
executive of a state, under the constitutional pro- 
vision which requires the general government to 
protect each of the states against domestic violence. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 943 


If such a commission were fairly organized, the 
risk of a loss of popular support and sympathy re- 
sulting from a refusal to submit to so peaceful an 
instrumentality, would constrain. both parties to such 
disputes to invoke its interference, and abide by its 
decisions. There would also be good reason to 
hope that the very existence of such an agency 
would invite application to it for advice and coun- 
sel, frequently resulting in the avoidance of con- 
tention and misunderstanding. If the usefulness 
of such a commission is doubtful, because it might 
lack power to enforce its decisions, much en- 
couragement is derived from the conceded good that 
has been accomplished by the railroad commissions 
which have been organized in many of the states, 
which have little more than advisory power, have 
exerted a most salutary influence in the settlement 
of disputes between conflicting interests. 

In July, 1884, by a law of congress, a bureau of 
labor was established and placed in charge of a 
commissioner of labor, who is required to collect 
information upon the subject of labor, its relations 
with capital, the hours of labor and the earnings 
of- laboring men and women, and the means of 
promoting their material, social, intellectual, and 
moral prosperity. The commission which I sug- 
gest could easily be engrafted upon the bureau thus. 
already organized by the addition of two more com- 
missioners, and by supplementing the duties now 
imposed upon it by such other powers and func- 


944 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


tions as would permit the commissioners to act as 
arbitrators when necessary between labor and cap- 
ital, under such limitations and upon such occa- 
sions as should be deemed proper and useful. Pow- 
er should also be distinctly conferred upon this 
bureau to investigate the causes of all disputes as _ 
they occur, whether submitted for arbitration or 
not, so that information may always be at hand to 
aid legislation on the subject when necessary and 


desirable. 
GROVER CLEVELAND. 


Executive Mansion, April 22, 1886. 


Although there is much antagonism existing 
between the workingmen and their employers, both 
concede the advisability of mutually agreeing upon 
some just method for settlement. Voluntary arbi- 
tration is generally held to be a most useful and 
equitable course to pursue, but as cases constantly 
arise wherein there is much ill feeling, this method 
is beyond question, and recourse to a special tribu- 
nalseems the only way to reach a definite and bind- 
ing settlement. 

In reply to a letter of inquiry upon this topic, 
General Worthy Foreman Richard Griffiths, of the 
Knights of Labor, writes: ‘I am an advocate of 
and a firm believer in arbitration. Peace between 
capital and labor will be intermittent until the two 
are impelled, by self-interest, public sentiment, 


or public law, to meet each other in a spirit 
* 



























































































































































































































































































































































































































































 ONIXVIIOINA 

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































t - 


ie 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 94% 


of mutual respect and forbearance, and_ sub- 
mit their disputes to the decision of impartial tribu- 
nals. The Knights of Labor are the evangels of 
this new gospel of good will. The twenty-second 
plank of their preamble and declaration of princi- 
ples is as follows: 

‘To persuade employers to agree to arbitrate all 
differences which may arise between them and their 
employes, in order that the bonds of sympathy be- 


tween them may be strengthened, and that strikes 
may be rendered unnecessary.’ 


‘‘T can assure you that the practices of the Knights 
are in harmony with their theories. In proof of 
this I would call your attention to the fact that in 
the territory embraced in district assembly No. 30 
—the manufacturing sections of Massachusetts— 
over one hundred disputes were settled by arbitra- 
tion in the twelve months between January, 1885, 
and January, 1886. In not one instance that 
arbitration was resorted to did it prove abor- 
tive. 

‘At first, manufacturers objected strenuously to 
submitting to arbitration. Not a few resented the 
intimation that there was anything to arbitrate as 
an insolent and unwarranted interference with their 
prerogative. But the great majority of the employ- 
ers in the old Bay state now admit, without reluct- - 
ance, that their employes are entitled to opinions 
regarding their own wages and conditions of em- 
ployment, and many of them eagerly avail them- 


248 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


selves of the new and enlightened system of settling 
industrial disputes. 

“‘The Knights of Labor favor the establishment of 
national and state courts of arbitration. Acting by 
authority of and under instructions from the general 
assembly, a committee composed of several of the 
brightest members of our order are now in Wash- 
ington, laboring for the creation of such courts. I 
am advised that there are grounds for hoping that 
their efforts will prove successful. When the legis- 
latures of the several states meet, this same matter 
will be pressed upon their attention. 

‘Arbitration, in my judgment, should be advocated 
by all thinking people; there isa crying need of it. 
But workingmen, especially, should bear in mind 
that, after all, arbitration is o1ily the cap-stone of 
the edifice, that education and organization must 
precede, or least go hand in hand with it. Unless 
mechanics are thoroughly organized many employers 
might, as of old, decline to treat with them. While 
workingmen should always favor peace—should 
never strike until all other means of obtaining 
redress had failed —it is a duty which they 
owe to themselves to be prepared for emergen- 
cies. : 

‘‘Tam glad to observe that decent newspapers are 
taking an interest in this great question. The press 
can do more than any other single agency toward .- 
harmonizing the clashing claims of capital and labor. 
The day was when workingmen were set down as in 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 949 


the wrong in all disputes, and employers ever in the 
right—when reports were doctored, and editorial 
opinions made to order. But times are changing for 
the better, and I thank God for it. 

‘¢ Please set me down as heartily in favor of arbi- 
tration.” 

Mr. George Rodgers expresses a similar opinion 
in the following words: ‘+I consider arbitration to 
be one of the most important matters of the day. 
Thinking, being my forte, I usually leave the writing 
to others. However, I am a thorough believer in 
arbitration, and hold the same views on this method 
for the settlement of disputes in the industrial world 
that are held and practiced whenever possible by 
the entire organization of the Knights of Labor. 
The constitution and laws of the Knights of Labor 
expressly direct that all disputes shall be submitted 
to arbitration when the employer consents. Em- 
ployes, who are Knights of Labor, are thus compell- 
ed to submit to arbitration; but there is at present 
no law to compel employers to do likewise. This is 
not so in other countries. 

“Compulsory submission to arbitration is provided 
for in some parts of France. An examination of the 
consular reports made to the state department in 
1884, will show that the law of arbitration is grow- 
ing inthe various countries of Europe, and that its 
growth there can be measured by the intelligence of 
the people. 


“The fact that no courts of arbitration yet exist in 
17 


950 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


America, is no argument against them; for it is 
well known that all reforms are in advance of the — 
law. Agitation always precedes remedial legislation. 
These courts will take labor disputes from antago- 
nists to impartial juries. 

‘“‘The people, in my judgment, understand that 
bullets and clubs are poor arguments—_very much 
inferior to cool reasoning and reasonable conclu- 
sions. The proposal of arbitration made by the 
street-car strikers settled that very dangerous dis- 
pute. If arbitration were compulsory, the Lemont 
affair, wherein citizen-soldiers shot down working- 
men, and used their bayonets on their wives, would 
not be something to recall with indignation. The 
aim of the Knights of Labor is to discourage 
strikes, to settle by arbitration, disputes, and to 
remedy Ee be A on the side of employer or 
employe.” 

In Europe the law has been found a satietar 
_ tory solvent for various phases of strikes and lock- 
outs. A court of arbitration has long existed in 
France, and in 1859, Lord Brogham stated, that of 
28,000 cases submitted to the Conseils des Prud- 
hommes, 26,800 were settled without appeal. If 
such results have been secured in the crowded coun- 
tries of Europe, there is no valid reason why the 
same ends cannot be accomplished 1 in the United 
States. 

The great bricklayers’ strike in the summer of 
1887, at Chicago, which caused a loss of over $2,- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 251 


000,000, was settled by Judge M. F. Tuley, who, 
as umpire, proposed the following scheme, which 
was accepted by both sides, and will undoubt- 
edly prove efficacious in obviating future difficul- 
ties. 

‘That a standing committee, to be elected an- 
nually in the month of January, defining its pow- 
ers and duties, we request shall be incorporated into 
the constitution of each association. 

‘‘This joint committee will be constituted of an 
arbitration committee of five members from each or- 
ganization (the president of each being one of the 
five), and an umpire who is neither a working me- 
chanic nor an employer of mechanies, to be chosen 
by the two committees. This joint committee is 
given power to hear and determine all grievances 
of the members of one organization against mem- 
bers of the other, and of one organization against 
the other; to determine and fix all working rules 
governing employers and employes, such as: (1) 
The minimum rate of wages per hour; (2) the num- 
ber of hours of work per day; (8) uniform pay 
day; (4) the time of starting and quitting work; (5) 
the rate paid for night and Sunday work, and ques- 
tions of like nature. And it is given power to de- 
termine what number of apprentices should be en- 
rolled, so to afford all boys desiring to learn the 
trade an opportunity to do so, without overcrowd- 
ing, so as not to cause the coming workman to be 
unskilled in his art, or the supply of labor to gross- 


952 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ly exceed the demand therefor. It is also given 
exclusive power to determine all subjects in which 
trade organizations may be interested, and which 
may be brought before it by the action of either 
organization, or the president thereof.” 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. ; 253 


CHAPTER XVII. 


CO-OPERATION. 


ALL GREAT ENTERPRISES DEPEND ON CO-OPERATION— 
A COMMON OBJECT IS COMMON ADVANTAGE—ORGAN- 
IZATION AND CO-OPERATION A GREAT POWER—THE 
WAGE SYSTEM OPPOSED TO CO-OPERATION—CO-OPER- 
ATION A SUCCESS—-LECLAIRE’S GREAT ORGANIZATION 
— RAILROAD CO-OPERATION IN FRANCE——INDUSTRIAL 
PARTNERSHIP IN ENGLAND—ALFRED TAYLOR ON THE 
SUBJECT—D. S. CURTISS—-DEVELOPMENT AND EXTENT 
OF CO-OPERATION IN THE UNITED STATES—COMPLETE 
REVIEW OF WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. 


Crviuization rests and advances, to a great extent, 
on the principles of co-operation. All of the enter- 
prises and industries which produce vast and bene- 
ficial results depend, for development, on associa- 
tion. Itis the channel by which discoveries in 
art and science are distributed, and thus inure to 
the benefit of the world. 

The organization of individuals for a common ob- 
ject lends the strength and capacity of the strong 
and able to all, and the weakest and those of infer- 
ior capacity reaps the common advantage. When 


954 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


the principles of co-operation are fully understood, 
their adoption will be carried into effect by thous- 
ands of industries, and the injurious effects of in- 
corporated concerns will be avoided. A country’s 
wealth depends upon its production, and as organi- 
zation and co-operation increases production, it 
naturally follows that the country adopting co-opera- 
tion will enjoy an unbroken era of prosperity. The 
intelligent direction and application of labor has 
a direct tendency to enhance wages. A forcible 
illustration of this truth may be found in the pro- 
duction of wheat in Egypt, India, and America, 
which is sold in the English market. The labor 
er’s day wages in Egypt is a small radish; in India, 
five cents, and in many of the United States, $2.00 
a day, or forty times as much as the harvester in 
India. High wages are paid only from high pro- 
duction. The American, by improved machinery, 
cuts, threshes and sacks one hundred pounds of 
wheat at a cost of but a few cents. 

The pages of history reveal the sad fact, that the 
want of the actual necessities of life has ever been 
the curse of labor. The cause of this distress lies in 
the fact that governments have legislated with the 
only thought to preserve the government instead of 
for the best interests of their producers. The im- 
mense armies of Europe are evidence of the truth 
of this statement. The declaration of principles in 
the constitution of the United States asserts that 
every American citizen has inalienable rights— 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 255 


rights which secure him liberty, property, and the 
pursuit of happiness, even to the commanding the 
support of every citizen in the whole country.. We 
need no standing armies to menace the people; and 
our time can be well directed to securing an abund- 
ance of the necessaries and comforts of life. 

If the wage system were abolished and the equi- 
ties of co-operation placed in its stead, the vast army 
of non-producers would vanish, and humanity would 
be in a better condition. Legislation would be 
directed towards the developing of the welfare of in- 
dustries and to the creation of peace and plenty. To 
supersede the wage system by the introduction of 
the co-operative industrial system has always been 
the goal of the Knights of Labor, and the order has 
a supervising board which looks after its interests 
in that direction. 

The practical application of co-operation is not 
an innovation. It is now in successful operation 
in hundreds of localities, and is everywhere meet- 
_ ing with the most gratifying results. 

To directly interest the workingman in the 
profits of his labor is a sure means of avoiding 
strikes and lockouts, and to obviate all possibility 
of differences between the employer and the em- 
ployed. Edme-Jean Leclaire, a house painter, the 
son of a poor village shoemaker in France, was the 
first to successfully introduce the principles of co- 
operative industry. In 1841 he put ito execution 
his plan of surmounting the antagonism which cx- 


956. THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


isted between workman and master. He organiz- 

ed a number of house and decorative painters into a 
society, each member of which was to receive a pro- 
portionate amount of the profits of the year’s work, 
over and above their wages. Considerable opposi- 
tion was met with, and at every side he met 
with discouragement from masters. The press ac- 
cused him of seeking to reduce wages; the police 
saw in his plans a cunning scheme for enticing 
workmen away from their employers, and did their 
best to thwart him by prohibiting meetings of 
his employes. However, on the 15th of February, 
1842, Leclaire met his workmen, forty-four in num- 
ber, and divided 11,886 francs between them. 

All opposition vanished, and he was given un- 
limited confidence. In succeeding years larger 
sums were distributed. During the six years 
from 1842 to 1847 inclusive, about 20,000 franes 
were annually divided among anaverageof eighty 
persons. Leclaire’s organization finally secured a 
legal status, and has never ceased to prosper. 

There are at present over fifty industrial estab- 
lishments in France, Alsace and Switzerland, work- 
ing upon co-operative principles, all of them in a 
highly prosperous condition. The Paris and Or- 
leans railway company have, since 1844, annually 
given their employes a share of the profits. Three 
other railroads in France, united with the Paris and 
Orleans road, give their operatives the same ad- 
vantage. : 





















































KNIFE, FORK AND SPOON WORKERS, 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 259 


Industrial partnership has, of late, been introduc- 
ed in England with remarkable results. In 1864, 
the Whitwood collieries entered into an arrangement 
whereby their employes receive a share of the pro- 
fits. The best results were obtained during the suc- 
ceeding ten years, when, in 1874, a change in the 
trade necessitated a reduction of wages, the men 
struck, and the system was discontinued. Had the 
men intelligently investigated the situation, it is 
probable no strike would have occurred. 

The success which has been achieved in Eng- 
land—and it has been a marked success—has been 
in co-operative distribution. Some of the societies 
do a vast business, and divide among those who are 
at once members and customers very handsome pro- 
fits. Naturally enough, this has led to experiments 
by the same societies in co-operative production. 
This is a short and easy step. If the members are 
to divide the profits which would go, ordinarily, to 
the jobber, wholesaler, and retailer, why should 
they not also become manufacturers of some of the 
principal commodities, and so divide among them- 
selves the manufacturers’ profits as well? The prin- 
cipal experiments have been those of the ‘* Whole- 
sale Society” of Manchester and that of Glasgow, 
and the experiment in each case has been the man- 
ufacture of shoes. The Manchester society has two 
factories, employing 1,000 people and doing an an- 
nual business of over $1,000,000. Being able to 
sell their goods largely in their own stores and to 


260 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


their own members, the societies have had an ad- 
vantage over ordinary manufacturers, and their new 
enterprises have been lucrative. The co-operative 
consumers—if we may so describe the members of 
the societies in their original capacity—are simply 
shareholders in the factories, those enterprises af- 
fording an opening for the investment of their sur- 
plus. The old force of competition—from which 
the new system of co-operation was to have effected 
deliverance—therefore comes in. 

Wide application of co-operation offers a pros- 
pect of vivifying and purifying industry to an ex- 
tent of which we have as yet but a faint conception, 
and the employers and consumers in America can- 
not do better than avail themselves of the profitable 
experience of those who have tested its merits. 
Capital is bitterly denounced on the one side, and 
the inefficiency and apathy of labor is execrated on 
the other. These extremes are one of the causes 
of strikes and increased depression during hard 
times. , 

‘¢One of the prime causes of existing labor trou- 
bles,” writes Alfred Taylor, ‘‘is to be found in the 
wage system itself. This system is erroneous to 
start with. While there is no doubt that the rela- 
tions of employer and employe might be better than 
they are, it is still true that the system retains some 
of the spirit of master and slave. No man is at 
his best without the feeling of-independence; the 
feeling that he is master of his ownacts. Strive as 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. %61 


he may, no man can take the same interest in the 
affairs of another that he takes in his own. Jt is 
not natural; it is a strained position and his trust- 
worthiness will be in the ratio of his intellectual 
development. It is well known that wage slavery 
makes intellectual culture next to impossible, be- 
cause of the want of time and means to obtain such 
culture. Hence, just in proportion that the employ- 
er is successful, just in the same proportion is the 
employe reduced to the mental and moral condition 
where his trustworthiness and interest in the wel- 
fare of his employer is at zero. 

‘“The only true remedy for this is in co-operative 
industry. When each man can feel that he is a 
proprietor; when he can feel that he is working for 
himself and not for a master; when he can feel and 
know that his brain and muscle weighs equally in the 
scale withthe dollar of his associates, and that the 
dividends on each shall be declared in the just ra- 
tio, then, and not till then, will labor stand upon its 
proper pedestal. | 

‘«The wage system places the laborer at the mer- 
cy of the employer, and the self-interest of the em- 
ployer prompts him to get all the labor he can for 
the smallest price, while the self-interest of the em- 
ploye prompts him to get the greatest price for the 
smallest amount of labor. This leads to antago- 
nism where there should be harmony. The employ- 
er has the advantage in this ‘antagonism in propor- 
tion to the amount of labor in the market. What 


962 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


difference is there under these circumstances be- 
tween buying and selling men, and buying and sell- 
ing the labor of men when there is but one party to 
the contract? And this is the case where the mar- 
ket is overcrowded, and where machinery enables 
capital to dispense with human labor. Capital is 
not to blame for taking advantage of these circum- 
stances, nor is labor to blame for its dissatisfac- 
tion. * 

‘Tt is the system that is wrong, and as soon as 
this can be made plain, there will be an universal 
effort to remedy it. Wherever co-operation has had 
a fair trial it has proved successful. And when 
capital can be convinced that co-operation will in- 
crease rather than diminish its gains, by creating a 
nobler incentive on the part of labor, it will fall 
readily into line and do its duty. 

‘‘Self-interest, after all, is the key to the situa- 
tion. That is a chord in human nature that is al- 
ways responsive. And while inordinate greed is re- 
prehensible, a true self-interest is the parent of in- 
dustry, economy and every material virtue. Guide 
this self-interest into the channel of co-operation, 
and capital and labor join hands upon one common 
ground of friendship and equality.” 

In a paper contributed to ‘‘The National View,” 
Col. D. 8. Curtiss says: ‘‘ Co-operation is equally 
adapted to large or small enterprises—to very mod- 
erate or most extensive operations. It may be ad- 
vantageously employed in constructing large bridg- 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. BBB 


es, mills, factories, in working large farms and 
even in digging canals and constructing railroads, 
and then in operating them, in any operation that 
requires more manual labor than the family can do, 
this mode will do. Under this system, in labor 
_operations—such as building houses, carrying on 
shoe, cabinet, blacksmith or other shops, working 
farms, and running factories, according to mutual 
agreement—all the laborers or operatives will re- 
ceive pay for the quantity and quality of work they 
perform, and an equal division of all the profits of 
the operation. So in trading and merchandising, all 
will be fairly paid by mutual understanding for the 
service performed, and all the parties in the co- 
operation will share the profits of the trade or store 
in the proportion which they buy or pay into it, 
while they who furnish any more capital than 
their purchases, will be paid a just interest for it, 
as shall be agreed upon. Thereby, on this princi- 
ple, all of the customers, operatives and capitalists, 
justly share the profits and are fairly compensated, 
no class monopolizing an undue portion of the pro- 
fits or gains of another’s labor or efforts. But I 
need not dwell upon the mode of co-operation, as it 
is easy to understand; my chief object is to call at- 
tention to it as one of the lawful and inoffensive 
means of readily securing more adequate, even full 
reward, to laborers, and thus soon end the violent 
strifes now being waged between labor and incor- 
porated capital, forced by the latter upon the former. 


264 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


‘¢ Wealthy monopolies and chartered corporations 
have long and steadily combined to enhance their 
own interests, and to keep down the wages of all 
laborers, they have chartered privileges, not pos- 
sessed by them individually, to aid their power of 
combination against labor, and those in government 
authority always aid the wealthy and monopolist, 
but strike down and coerce the laborer; therefore, 
laborers have a right to combine for their own wel- 
fare, they are justified in the most effective combi- 
nations they can make for their own protection and 
welfare. A further effect of this system will be to 
peacefully compel the more arrogant employers to 
act justly toward employes who do not happen to 
enlist in the self-employment of co-operation, as 
they will be rendered less dependent upon wealthy 
employers. Under this system there will be no 
motive or need for strikes, boycotts, lockouts, or 
other violent measures, to secure just pay and hours 
to the hard workers. 

‘CWhen fairly and thoroughly organized in this 
manner, such a body of industrious, intelligent, and 
skillful workers would always and everywhere com- 
mand the respect and confidence of the community; 
and should they at any time wish to enter upon 
more extensive enterprises than their personal means 
would enable them to carry out, they could find 
plenty of unemployed capital whose owners would 
be glad to invest it with them-—to loan it to them at 
a reasonable low rate of interest. For instance, 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 265 


should a co-operative association, embracing many 
laborers, wish to enter into a contract to build a 
costly house or bridge, or mill, or manufactory, or 
to run a large grain and stock farm, but lacked the 
requisite means to start with, they would have no 
trouble in borrowing the money; it would be more 
difficult for money to find laborers than for labor to 
find money, when co-operation extensively prevail- 
ed, because most laborers would be better employ- 
ed than working for capitalists; while large capi- 
talists could not make large contracts for building, 
as they would be unable to hire much labor. 

‘¢ Another effect that will result from the general 
establishment of co-operative organizations will be 
the more equitable apportionment of wages for ser- 
vices; under present customs a most flagrant dis- 
parity of salaries compared to the services perform- 
ed, and the dangers assumed, obtains; in many po- 
sitions and occupations extravagant salaries are paid 
where but little service is rendered, light accounta- 
bility, with no hardship or danger incurred. As an 
instance, take the operating of railroads, superin- 
tendents, vice-presidents, and presidents receive var- 
iously five, ten, and even twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars’ salary annually, with little responsibility for 
the safety of life and property, and none of the 
hardships and dangers of running the trains; but 
the trusty, skillful engineer or engine-driver, who 
stands at the open-mouth of danger and death, in 
night and day, light and dark, in storm and cold, 

18 


266 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


holding in his hand, watchfully and secure, the safe- 
ty of thousands of lives and millions of property— 
upon whose honest skill and care the lives of the 
passengers and the value of the entire train constant- 
ly depend for safety—this grandly skillful and 
highly responsible employe receives in salary 
scarcely more hundreds than those easy fellows, 
above named, receive thousands. It is a shameful 
injustice that those skillful, responsible, danger-be- 
set men should be so meagerly paid,when those na- 
bob officials are paid so much for no hardships, or 
risks, or dangers. 

‘The same fact holds true, to a large extent, to 
other train hands on railroads, and to some degree, 
in fact, among the operatives in express companies, 
large mills, and manufactories, telegraph compan- 
ies, and some other avocations of the business world. 
Inadequate compensation to those who incur most 
toil, hardship, and exposure, and liable to greater 
dangers and responsibilities, but extravagant pay 


to those most exempt from danger and hardship is 


a shame and disgrace. This unjust and unreasona- 
ble disparity of wages will be mostly done away 
under the general adoption of co-operation. There 
is no just reason why a skillful compositor should 
not receive as much pay for setting up an article as 
the man gets for writing the same; it requires as 
many years for the printer to learn to set type, read 
manuscript, and punctuate correctly, as the writer 
spent in qualifying to write it. So in regard to a 


* 


~ >) ahs ‘i! as a ey. nh cok Ts 


‘ THE VOICE OF LABOR. eT LeOs 


lawyer or doctor. There is no justice in paying them 
more for an hour or day’s service than should be 
paid to a good carpenter, shipwright, or other skill- 
ful mechanic; it requires as long time and study to 
learn a trade well as to learn those so-called pro- 
fessions, while the latter has a more easy life, 

‘‘When this peaceful method of co-operation is 
generally adopted, and mechanics and other labor- 
ers unitedly vote for only their friends, observe 
economy, sobriety, study, and thoughtfulness, all 
workers will be better paid, happier, and more pros- 
perous; then all branches will be fairly and equally 
paid.” 

A partial census of the co-operative undertakings 
in the United States, by investigators of the 
Economic Association, shows that there is much 
more co-operation in this country than is generally 
supposed. According to the New York correspond- 
ent of the Philadelphia ‘ Press,” reports have been 
received from New England, the middle Western 
states, and, with minute detail, from Minnesota. 
Both distributive and productive co-operation are 
included in the inguiry. In New England there are 
at least fifty-three establishments engaged in dis- 
tributive co-operation. More familiarly these are 
known as co-operative stores. About one-half, or 
twenty-eight, are in Massachusetts; six in Connecti- 
cut, sixteen in Maine, two in New Hampshire, and 
one in Rhode Island. Most of these have been or- 
ganized since 1870; one dates back to 1847, and 


268 . THE VOICE OF LABOR. 6 


another to 1850. These two early ones, and another 
founded in 1866, are the only survivals of the old 
union stores of forty years ago, At one time there 
were 106 of these. Somewhat similar are the 
Grange stores, which are patronized by the 25,000- 
or 80,000 members of this organization, These 
Grange stores in the East are confined to Maine, 
New Hampshire and Connecticut. They are the sur- 
vival of the fittest, and have a successful basis, 

Of the fifty-three stores, thirty-two report an ag- 
gregate capital of $137,000, the amount of each 
ranging from $1,000 to $40,000. In general, the par 
value of a share is $5. This is significant as indi- 
cating the possibility of investment by the poor — 
man. The number of shareholders in fifty-two com- 
panies is 5,470, which indicates a rather wide inter- 
est. The trade reported by the thirty-three stores 
making full returns is $1,600,000. As many of the 
stores turned over their capital more than twelve 
times during the year, it may be safely stated that 
the entire business of distributive co-operation in 
New England was $2,000,000 during the past year. 

In the West, the Grange store has not generally 
survived the misfortunes of its earlier days. In Illi- 
nois there were at one time co-operative stores in 
one-half of the counties of the state. These have 
been mostly failures. In Michigan there are three 
semi-successful stores; in Indiana and Ohio little 
remains of former prosperity. The idea has been 
better realized in Kansas, where at the present time 


i 


ROS Se Ge 

















4&4 HAPPY HOME. 








> Seabee ee eee 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. O71 


there are twenty or thirty small stores. The oldest 
and most successful is at Olathe, which has increas- 
ed its sales from $41,000 in 1876 to $210,000 in 
1886. , | 

The efforts of the Knights of Labor, or of other 
labor organizations, are too recent to justify much 
mention. In 1886, sentiment in this direction rapid- 
ly crystallized, and labor stores were established. It 
is here that interest in the future will be the great- 
est. A unique, though not, perhaps, strictly co-op- 
erative, institution is the Mormon undertaking, 
called the ‘‘Zion’s Co-operative Mercantile Institu- 
tion.” The stock of the company is $1,000,000, and 
the sales between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000. It is 
more proper, however, to call this a joint stock cor- 
poration, although its results have been somewhat 
similar to those reached by thewholesaleco-operative 
stores of New England. 

Later in time there has been developed that form 
of co-operation known as productive. Of the 
twenty companies in New England, sixteen are in 
Massachusetts. There are eleven in Ohio, seven in 
Indiana, fourteen in Illinois, fourin Michigan, nine 
in Missouri, and two in Kansas. Productive co-op-- 
eration seems to have struck more deeply in the 
West than elsewhere. 

Of more importance is the form of production 
which co-operation has taken. Jn New England 
there are seven co-operative shoe companies, three 
printing companies, and two furniture companies. 


972 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Five other companies have been just organized, and 
it is estimated that in this year there will be a busi- 
ness of more than a million dollars. The most suc- 
cessful, perhaps, is the stove company in Stoneham, 
Mass., which has an annual product of $150,000, 
with a capital of $20,000, divided among fifty- 
seven shareholders, twenty-five of whom are em 
ployed in the establishment. There are at least 
1,100 shareholders in these twenty associations, and — 
if we take into consideration those which have not 
reported, it is safe to say that ten thousand persons 
are interested in co-operation in New England. 

In the West more kinds of industries are repre- 
sented in co-operation. In 1886 there were at least 
seven co-operative mining companies in operation 
in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Three of them, 
with a combined capital of $55,000, are reported as 
prosperous; and in those cases where failure has 
occurred, it has been due to the hostile action of the 
railroads. These companies all originated either 
from strikes or disaffection with wages. The furni- 
ture-makers have enjoyed considerable success. Of 
their five undertakings, one dates back to. 1878; 
three of them are situated in St. Logis. The great- 
est success has been achieved by the coopers in Min- 
neapolis. - The history of their work is of common 
report. Their one shop of 1874 has increased to 8. 

_ Farmers have done little with productive co-oper- 
ation. The few agricultural colonies are as yet ex- 
perimental, but co-operative creameries are common 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 273 


in New England, New York and Ohio. It is esti- 
mated that about one-fourth of the dairying in some 
counties of the latter state is carried on in the eo- 
operative form. 

This completes the review of what has been done 
in co-operation thus far in the United States. In 
conclusion, it may be said, that this experienge shows 
that the co-operative store can be made successful, 
but that as yet co-operation with dividends to labor 
is, except in Minneapolis, in such a tentative condi- 
tion that no definite ju lgment can be given. In 
addition to the forms of co-operation mentioned, 
there should be added, to make a complete inquiry, 
co-operative banks and building associations. 


274 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


HOME THE PALLADIUM OF SOCIETY.1 


MAN WITHOUT A HOME AN OUTCAST—THE STATE IS BUT 
THE INDIVIDUAL, THE INDIVIDUAL A MINIATURE STATE 
—HOME THE BULWARK OF VIRTUE—CICERO’S MAXIM 
—DEFECTS OF OUR SOCIAL SYSTEM——THE BURDEN OF 
INDIRECT TAXATION—HANDWRITING ON THE WALL— 
CO-OPERATION A BLESSING FOR THE PEOPLE—SUCCESS 
OF CORPORATIONS — ‘‘ SWEET HOME” CAN BE MADE 
A REALITY-—WISDOM FOR THE HOMELESS. 

‘“*Men who are housed like pigs can hardly pray like Christians; and 


where life is along flight from starvation, it is not a flight that takes 
the fugitive towards heaven. 


“7 don t know whether it will shoecx you. She said that a home 
which a decent man can respect, has as much to do with holiness as 
have all the Seven Sacraments.‘ 


‘¢THE OLD ORDER CHANGES.” 


Were [ asked, ‘‘What is the most important step 
‘to take, at once, in the interest of the whole peo- 
ple,” I should say, without a moment’s hesitation, 
place every head of a family in a home free from 
tax, rent and interest. Were the question then put, 
‘‘Hlow are we to do this,” my answer would be, have 


1 By Albert Owen. 





TAE VOICE OF LABOR. OTD 


men and women, to incorporate themselves into 
companies, select and obtain lands suitable for 
town, farm and factory, and go to work upon a well 
matured plan to employ themselves, to build their 
houses, to grow their crops, to operate their facto- 
ries, to exchange their services and to discipline 
their lives. 

Home is the basis for every reform. Without 
homes people will be shiftless, nothing can be 
substantial, and the best effort, the kindest thought 
are but a mockery of what they might be were 
every one properly employed and comfortably hous- 
ed. The homeless are the discontented, the diseas- 
ed, the criminally inclined. The destructionists, the 
anarchists, the nihilists, only exist where there are 
homeless people. A man or a woman without a 
home is a waif. Society is ever and incessantly 
forcing him or her tomove on. ‘‘Thechattel slave 
had his or her cabin, but the modern tramp has not 
a place whereon to lay his or her head. A person 
without a home is a factor for revolution. 

Evolution can be brought about only by those who 
have homes wherein they can study, think and plan. 
There is nothing certain connected with a home- 
less man or woman, except uncertainty. Justice can 
not be practiced, and equity is simply a name among 
a people who are but partly housed. Instructions 
in ethics, morals and science are worthless where 
people live along gutters, and sleep in houses and 
on lands owned by other people than themselves; and 


N 


276 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


‘‘reformers” may agitate about ‘the land’s unearn- 
ed increment,” total abstinence, no distinction of 
sex in the political franchise, ‘‘salvation in Christ 
Jesus,” eight hours for a day’s work; and the trade 
unions may strike every dayin the year, but until the 
producers incorporate to secure themselves agreea- 
ble, regular and remunerative employments, to han- 
dle and exchange their own products, and to place 
every head of a family in a beautiful home, free 
from tax, rent and interest, they will do nothing 
that is substantial to right the wrongs under which 
modern society is staggering, tottering towards its 
inevitable engulfment. 

The great Plato maintained that ‘the state is 
but the individual on a larger scale, the individual is 
but a miniature state;” and the greater Aristotle, 
who was a pupil of Plato, based his philosophy on 
the principle of experience; that is to say, the prin- 
ciple that all our thinking should be founded on the 
observation of facts. Aristotle was the founder of 
the inductive school, and built not from theory but 
from established fact—from what had been actually 
done. Heraclitus was of the deductive school, and 
imagined a base, and then eloquently expounded a 
doctrine like our ‘‘land unearned increment” ex- 
pounders do to-day. He began with ‘Fire is the 
substance of everything,” “and everything flows;” 
and Pythagoras, likewise, took as the basis for his 
agitation and reform: ‘‘The numerical proportions 
are the real substance,” 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 277 


Well, what of it if they are? What-has that 
to do with the employment and contentment 
of the people; how is that theory going to give 
employment to the 1,000,000! men and women, 
who are begging for work, lest they die, in these 
United States; why pass time—precious time— 
over nice theories when the census tells us that there 
are 500,0002 young girls, in these United States, 
being prostituted, and that 100,000 of them are dy- 
ing every year—dyirg disgraced, broken hearted 
and prematurely; and yet Pythagoras was in his day 
one of the great leading philosophers, and he rous- 
ed the people up at town meetings and at cross 
roads then, just as our popular agitators do to-day, 
and with about as little result towards ameliorating 
the conditions of the people. 

But it is claimed these agitators ‘‘make the peo- 
ple think.” That is so, but of what—to think 
of things which entertains and diverts the pro- 
ducers from the real facts in the case,while the cun- 
ning tricksters, the lawyers, the brokers, the middle 
men and ‘the cannibals of Exchange Alley” put 
them more and more into debt, pile taxes upon 
them, increase their rates of interest; steal their 
highways, monopolize their exchanges, occupy their 
lands, buy up their inventions,and educate their 
- children with false teachings. Aristotle, on the 
contrary, began all reforms from establisbed facts, 


17T. V. Powderly, July 22, 1887, at Wilkesbarre, Pa. 
2 The Prodigal Daughter, by Rachel Campbell. 


278 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


and with lessons acknowledged after they had been 
practically applied; he took every step cautious- 
ly, methodically and in keeping with the logic of 
circumstances. 

‘¢ It is, however, not so much by his philosophi- 
cal system that Aristotle has wielded his enormous 
influence, especially as this begins only at present 
to be fully understood and justly appreciated, as 
by his logical inventions and his method of philo- 
sophy in general. He has, more than any other 
philosopher, set the world to thinking logically, to 
teaching science and art systematically, to banish- 
ing from the domain of science the rampant and 
arbitrary action of fantasy, to observing coolly be- 
fore venturing to systematize, and to loving truth 
for its now sake.” 

Cicero, though a Roman, went to Greece, and 
studied in the inductive school of Plato and Aris- 
totle. He said: ‘“‘The first function of justice is 
that no one should do violence to another unless 
compelled by violence to himself. The second is, 
that no one should use public things other- 
wise than as public things; and should use pri- 
vate things only as his own.” These are, to my 
mind, the greatest lessons ever expounded in any 
age or by any person. ‘There never has been a na- 
tion which ever properly discriminated between pub- 
lic things and things private, and there never has 
been a nation which has ever succeeded in giving 
to its people diversified employments and beautiful 


THE VOICE. OF LABOR. o7$ 


homes; and, hence all nations in the past and pres. 
ent, have been held together by armed forces and 
by the intrenched influences of privileged classes. 

The United States are no exception to the rule. 
What are the facts in the case. The institutions of 
the United States have had one hundred and eleven 
years of trial, under the most favorable circumstan- 
ces, and they are a failure. They do not give to 
the citizen security for life, property or happiness. 
The inalienable right to life, to the use of property 
and to the pursuit of happiness, is thus far a myth. 
Those who are taxed do not necessarily have repre- 
sentation. Even the people who vote do not goy- 
ern, and rarely a majority of them elect the candi- 
dates set up by privileged classes. A moneyed aris- 
tocracy has seized the nation. Incorporated and 
privileged classes own and control the exchanges, 
transportations, lands, waters, fuels, lights, powers, 
inventions and legislations. 

The producers are slaves, without an hour to call 
their own: with bodies over-burdened, brains mud- 
dled, and without the right even to possess the things 
they make, the lands they improve, or the graves 
they are buried in. Even the children and wom- 
en of the American laborer are driven, from neces- 
sity, and forced by hirelings, to toil from dawn 
till night, that others may luxuriate in over-abun- 
dance. The houses they shelter themselves in, the 
farms tly cultivate, the factories they work in, the 
theatre they go to, the hotels they stop at, the cars 


280 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


they journey in, the wagons they haul in, the boats 
they steam in, are each made and operated by 
themselves, but they all belong to the privileged and 
incorporated classes. 

The direct tax paid by labor, and every tax paid 
is paid by labor, whether it is land tax or interest 
on money, is unnecessary in every case; but it is 
infinitesmal in amount to the indirect tax—the in- 
terests, rentals, expressages, freightages, etc. ,which 
the producers are forced, by law, to pay for the use 
of their own eredits, houses, highways, exchanges, 
transportations, ete. 

Our agitators, however, are forever arousing pub- 
lic thought on the injustice of direct taxation; and 
never even whisper concerning the indirect taxa- 
tion, which is really the question at issue. The 
facts, in a similar case, are that a great and inces- 
sant howl is made about free trade. This is a mis- 
nomer to begin with, for those who advocate ‘free 
trade” have no wish to see free home trade, ‘but 
they advocate that foreign manufacturers who are 
kept up by English subsidies and pauper labor, 
shall be free to crush out our comparatively young 
industries at home. These brilliant reformers make 
all their noise about our ‘foreign trade,” which 
amounts, at best, to but ten per cent of our com- 
merce; and they ignore, as unworthy of their 
thought, the ninety per cent of internal, inter-state, 
or home trade. 

Hence it is, that while our people’s minds are at- 





\ 


et u 
V 





MIDNIGHT FIRES—BLAST FURNACES, PITTSBURG. 


a 


* 


bt 





» =k ol 


.. She 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 983 


tracted by eloquence and sweet sounding phrases 
upon questions other than those at issue, that the 
_ population of the United States has only doubled, 
while the idiots, deaf and dumb patients, convicts, 
inebriates and those who are dependent upon the 
charities for protection, shelter and food, have in- 
creased eight-fold. What a picture for a republic to 
present after alittle over one hundred years’ of trial. 
Where did a despotism ever do worse in so short a 
time? . 

The hand-writing is on the wall. The decadence 
of our institutions is seen every day in the regattas, 
horse racing, prize fighting, burring matches, base 
ball gambling, and the ballet enacted for the de- 
praved tastes of a class made luxuriously rich and 
indifferently selfish by the possession of privileged 
monopolies. The daily suicides, murders, robberies, 
crimes and filthy diseases of the homeless, over- 
burdened and dissatisfied are the other side—are the 
shadows to the first picture. Well may our heathen 
friend, Wong Chin Foo, boast that among the four 
hundred millions of people in China, there are less 
murders in a year than there are in the single state 
of New York, within the same time.. 

The question is: What is to be done, and how, 
when and by whom? This is business. If the ques- 
tions of our day are to be solved, they will be soly- 
ed by business persons—others are not capable 
of looking into causes, or competent to mature a 
plan and perfect the details necessary to carry the 


984 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


same into execution. Induction teaches us that we 
must go from a part tothe whole. In almost every 
community we see half a dozen or more busi 
ness persons incorporate themselves into a com- 
pany and obtain the privilege to receive money on 
deposit, to loan credit and to issue currency; and 
-it does not take much watching to see that these 
persons get rich. 

Again, some one or more of these bankers will 
associate with themselves four or more successful 
corner grocerymen, prosperous butchers, or well-to- 
do manufacturers, etc., and will incorporate and ob- 
tain the privilege to furnish gas; others to bring 
water into the town; others to buy, mortgage, im- 
prove and sell lands; others to build and oper- 
ate street tramways; others to construct steam rail- 
roads; others to put up telegraphs and telephone 
lines; others to make toll roads and bridges; others 
to buy and control the oil production; others to 
operate steamships and sailing vessels; others to in- 
sure life; others to insure property; and others to 
build and lease hotels, theatres, flats, etc.; to buy, 
improve and monopolize inventions; to manufacture 
and control rubber goods; electric motors; to farm 
large tracts of land; to raise cattle; to publish pa- 
pers, magazines and books, ete, 

We see more and more companies incorporated. 
every day, and we see the little companies being ab- 
sorbed by the larger. Everywhere we see the in- 
dividual business man associating with himself 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 985 


other business persons and taking out papers of 
corporation to do something too big for one man 
to execute. Everywhere we see concentration and 
combination and corporation limited, If we look 
close we will find that he or she who has had bus- 
_ iness forethought to get into two or more of these 
incorporated companies is richer than he or she who 
has only incorporated in one; we _ will see 
that. the great wealth, in the United States particu- 
larly, has been made through investments in incor- 
porated companies; and that there is scarcely a suc- 
cessful business person who is not in one or more 
ways connected with them. 

Luxury and over-abundance of everything char- 
acterizes the surroundings of the incorporated indi- 
vidual; poverty, wretchedness and the absence of 
the common comforts of existence are the lot of the 
unincorporated individual. 

Those who have incorporated, for a well-planned 
purpose, act independent of those they hire. Those 
who have not made a business alliance with others, 
and incorporated to carry their purpose into execu- 
tion, are dependent upon those who have. 

If these incorporated companies have been so uni- 
formly successful in carrying out their plans and in 
making stockholders prosperous and influential, that 
they give their members more agreeable employ- 
ments and better homes, and that the person who is 
in two is better off than the person who is in one, 
would it not be wise for a large number of men 


286 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


and women to take out papers of incorporat.on te 
establish a deposit and loan bank; to buy, lay out 
and improve a town sight and farm; to build 
houses, operate factories; to furnish gas, water, fuel, 
power, transportation, food, drink, clothes, etc.; to 
insure life and property: to secure inventions; to 
employ, educate, entertain, amuse, cremate, ete. 
If to incorporate and control any one of these has 
been found to be conducive to the good health, 
spirits, comfort and education, of those who 
have monopolized them, why should it not be bet- 
ter to pool all, or to consolidate a hundred or more, 
into one large incorporated company ? 

In doing this we will act in the strict line of the 
instruction given us by Cicero, ‘that no one should 
use public things, otherwise than as public things, and 
should use private things only as his own.” The 
control of the land and its deposits, the highways, 
water ways, the atmosphere, exchanges, transporta- 
tions, entertainments, amusements, instructions, 
sanitations, insurances, the ways and means of pay- 
ment, etc., belong to the public; and society 
depends upon their equitable management for its 
safety and advancement. 

To discriminate between what belongs to the pub- 
lic and that which belongs to the individual, has 
puzzled statesmen in all ages. Why is this nota 
good test. That which a man or woman can do 
unassisted is private, but all other things are pub- 
lic and should be made and controlled by the pub-— 


THE VOICE .OF LABOR. 287 


lic. Equity does not admit of one person being 
employed by another in any way, time or place, 
but always in any way and in every place 
each individual should be assisted in the line of 
production he or she elects, by his or her own agent 
or the companies’ director, and no two or more 
persons should be permitted to form a co-partner- 
ship or firm within the corporation. In this way 
every one is forced to be usefully occupied, to stand 
upon his or her merits, and to be paid forthe qual- 
ity and quantity of the work delivered to the agent 
elected to receive and to give credit for the same. 
' There is no equality, no communism, no license 
in this suggestion. It is a plain business proposi- 
tion to combine into one company what has 
heretofore mostly been carried on by separate in- 
corporated bodies. Men and women would en- 
joy more security, more privacy and more liberty 
in a community organized as suggested, than under 
any government ever yet proposed. Trustees of the 
association would simply conserve and utilize all 
public things for the use of the public, and assist 
the individual to be comfortable, useful and _ pro- 
gressive. It does not permit a person or persons 
to get a special law passed, that he or they may take 
advantage of those who work, and hence, great in- 
dividual fortunes would not be possible. 

There is no necessity for a test to be made of the 
plan herein suggested. Everywhere, and for every 


288 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


purpose under heaven, we see incorporated com- 
panies in cperation, and nine out of every ten are 
successful. The way for the laboring men and wo- 
men to apply these suggestions to practice, at once, 
is plain, and may be made easy if method and dis- 
cipline are conformed with. 

In this way slowly, surely and in a strict busi- 
ness way, persons can be taken from farms, factor- 
ies, shops, counting houses, ete., and placed in 
the occupations he or she selects, under their own 
management, upon their own lands, in their own 
homes, and where direct interests, taxes und rents, 
need be unknown. 

In such a community there need be no drones, 
every one can worship God after his or her own 
wish; and, while compensation between man and 
man should not be permitted, rivalry in all useful 
callings should be encouraged: the strong would 
be attracted to assist the weak, and the weak would 
be glad to co-operate to the best of their ability 
with the strong, because it would be the interest of 
~each to do so: poverty being unknown, great indi- 
vidual riches would be impossible: aad while the 
company would become wealthy and influential, the 
individual would receive full, prompt and cash pay- 
ment for anything and everything he or she did, and 
would be protected in his and her labor, property 
and individuality: and housed, instructed, amused, 
transported and entertained better and at less cost, 
than has yet been dreamed of. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 289 


Such would be evolution not revolution: such 
would not interfere with any well-intentioned person 
on earth—such would be peace, prosperity and hap- 
piness to producers who organized to employ them- 
selves, to exchange their own products, and to put 
every head of a family in a beautiful home free 
from tax, rent and interest. ‘*Sweet Home” should 
and can be made a reality to every industrious man 
and woman. 

The suggestion to producers is, act for yourself 
and be not satisfied with discussion and agitation: 
do not rest with organization, but incorporate—in- 
corporate to employ yourself, to handle your own 
exchanges, to own the lands you improve, to grow 
your own crops, to own and occupy the houses you 
build. In this way you can each have a home. 


290 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


PRISON LABOR. 


A GREAT QUESTION—HOW CONVICTS ARE EMPLOYED—- 
OCCUPATIONS IN VARIOUS PRISONS —- WORKING FOR 
THE STATE —- THE CONTRACT SYSTEM — THE LEASE. 
PLAN—E. C. WINES ON THE CONTRACT SYSTEM—ITS 
EFFECT—ABUSES—SHOULD BE ABOLISHED —LEASES 
AND FAULTS THEREOF—57, 500 CONVICT WORKMEN 
PITTED AGAINST HONEST LABOR — DR. SEAMAN’S 
VIEWS — DEMANDS OF THE PUBLIC — CARROLL D. 
WRIGHT’S REPORT—PRISON LABOR MUST NOT CON- 
FLICT WITH INTERESTS OF THE WORKINGMAN. 


Wuar should be done with convicts industrially, 
has been a question ever since our present peniten- 
tiary systems were instituted. The distinction be- 
tween penal, or hard labor and industrial labor, 
does not exist in the United States as in England. 
The sentence of ‘‘hard labor” here simply means 
industrial labor. This is an element of good policy 
and justice, because it is right that criminals should 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 291 


do something to reimburse the state for the expense 
they have incurred because of their crimes, and it 
is proper, beceuse work is an essential condition of 
reform, 

All kinds of productive labor is found in Ameri- 
can prisons. In Texas, Alabama and North Caro- 
lina the convicts build railroads; they raise cotton 
in Mississippi, and in New York and Tennessee they 
work in mines; and in many states they do farm 
work and cultivate vegetables. Prison employ- 
ments are mechanical except in the South, and deal 
with work in the metals, wood and leather, though 
a great deal of stone work is done where prisons 
are in course of construction. At Auburn, N. Y., 
agricultural tools are make in large quantities; at 
Philadelphia cell work is done in shoemaking, weay- 
ing, tailoring and light wood work; in Massachu- 
setts, cabinet making, brush and shoemaking, and 
work on sewing machines; an important depart- 
ment of labor is making of carpenter’s rules in Con- 
necticut; in Maine, carriage manufacturing is car- 
ried on at a large scale; a great iron mine furnishes 
ore tothe Northern New York prison, which is smelt- 
ed, forged and wrought into nails; leather tan- 
ning is the chief product of the Michigan prison, 
chair making at the Detroit House of Correction, 
and in the Indiana prison (South) the convicts are 
mainly employed in building railway cars in all its 
branches. | 

Two prisons weave wire; bolts and hinges are 


292 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


made in one; brushes in several; stoves in one; 
edge tools in one; car-wheels in one; iron work 
(bronzed) in one; cigars in five; machinery in 
one; axles in one; moulding in three; chairs 
in eight; weaving in three; cabinet making 
in six; farming implements in one, brooms in one; 
cooperage in nine; saddles and harness in several, 
and shoes in overa dozen; while tailoring, paint- 
ing, carpentry and smithing in all. 

At different prisons and times, convict labor 
has been employed in the following systems: 1. 
Working the prisoners for the state in the manu- 
facture of crude material furnished by the state. 
2. The contract system. 38. That of leasing the 
prison for a certain period; the lessee assuming en- 
tire control of both discipline and industries, and 
furnishing food, clothing, medicine, ete. 

‘¢ The contract system,” says E, C. Wines, in his 
‘State of Prisons,etc.,’ “obtains in the major part of 
our prisons. In a few, perhaps a tenth or eighth of 
the whole number, the prison labor is managed by 
the prison administration; and this is especially the 
case when the building or enlarging of a prison is 
‘going on; There are many objectionsto the contract 
system of prison labor, but it has been found in gen- 
eral less expensive to the government than its man- 
agement by the prison officers. This is,no doubt, due 
to the general instability of our prison administra- 
tions. Where party politics dominate these admin- 
istrations, and where, owing to the fluctuation of par- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 993 


ties, new and inexperienced men are so often put 
in charge of our prisons, it is not to be expected 
that so vast and complicated a machine as the in- 
dustries of a large prison should be successfully 
managed by them. Even wader our present sys- 
tem, the industries in prisons of moderate size, con- 
taining not more than three hundred or four hun- 
dred inmates, have been and are carried on by the 
authorities with fair success. Take the history of 
the state prison of Massachusetts as an example— 
a prison from which we have financial returns for a 
longer period than from any other ih the country. 
During the sixty-two years covered by these re-° 
turns, the prison has exhibited a profit above its ex- 
penses in twenty-three years, and a deficit in thirty- 
nine years. ..... The first effect of the contract 
system is to place for the whole working day all the 
prisoners contracted for, to a great extent, under 
the control of men with no official responsibility— 
men who see in the convicts only so much machin- 
ery for making money: men whose only, or at any 
rate whose chief, recommendation to the positions 
they holdin the prison is that they were the highest 
bidders for the human beings hired by them. 
The second effect is to introduce among the con- 
victs, as superintendents of their labor, strangers 
to the prison, who are employed by the contractors 
as agents, foremen, and in some instances even la- 
borers—men entirely irresponsible—men selected 
with little regard to their moral character, and of- 


994 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ten without morals; men who do not hesitate to 
smuggle liquor into the prison and other contra- 
band articles, and sell them to the convicts at an 
increditable advance on their true market value. 
A third effect of the system, is to set up in the pris- 
ons a power behind the throne greater than the 
throne; a power well-nigh omnipotent in its sphere; 
_a power that coaxes, bribes and threatens in pursuit 
of its selfish ends; a power that makes and unmakes 
officers, imposes and remits fines through agents 
whom it has been able to bend to its will, and even 
stoops to mean devices to get the poor prisoner, 
who has incurred its wrath, into straits and difficul- 
ties, that its revenge may be gratified with the 
sight of his punishment.” 

In the lease system the whole control of the pris- 
on and its inmates is turned over to the lessee whose 
sole object is to make money. The general result of 
the plan is, that food and clothing are reduced to 
the minimum; the strength of the convict is tasked 
to the utmost limit of human endurance; the prop- 
erty of the state is neglected and injured; the pris- 
oners are held as so many machines, and are valued 
upon the basis of the amount of work they can do; 
reformation is ignored and the higher ends of dis- 
cipline are held for naught, 

It was supposed when the various industries were 
introduced to prisons that the great problem of what 
to do with convict labor was successfully solved. 
Convicts who worked at an average of about fifty 


—— 


*SHAIL NHGTIO HHL NI ONINVA AVR 









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Lie 
Pa 


~~ as 
y 5 


in 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 297 


cents a day produced certain articles which sold in 
the market at less prices than the same goods pro- 
duced by free labor. The consequence is plain to be 
seen. Convict labor is pitted against honest labor 
to the detriment of the latter. The honest working- 
man must pay taxes, and the margin on prison made 
goods goes into the pockets of the contractors or 

prison lessees. : 

There are in the United States 57,500 convicts 
who are daily engaged in competing with free la- 
bor, and over one-half of them are skilled laborers. 
From this source the industry of the entire country 
is affected. Every prison is virtually an immense 
factory or workshop, with a daily output as against 
the honest workingman who is earning a bare sub- 
sistance. 

It is universally held by legislators that this com- 
petition is the foe of free labor, andin many of the 
states the contract and leasing systems have been 
abolished, but an effectual remedy for the evil has 
not been put into actual practice. If labor is taxed 
for the support of penal institutions, the inmates 
should in some way be made to return the expendi- 
ture, and in a way so as not to interfere with free 
labor: 

Dr. Seaman, late chief of staff of the Blackwell’s 
Island hospital and penitentiary, spoke upon the 
problem of convict labor in a recent address before 

\ Mthe Medico-Legal Society. He argues in favor of 
the English system of employing long sentence 
20 


298 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


prisoners on great public works, such as harbor and 
fortification making. An effort is being made in 
another quarter to introduce transportation to Alas- 
ka. But there is a third alternative, suggested by 
some very common-place facts, here submitted for 
consideration. 

Society is, perhaps unnecessarily, afflicted by hav- 
ing to bear two enormous burdens, costly, demoral- 
izing and oppressive. These are (1) the maintenance 
of criminals,and (2) the maintenance of widows and 
orphans left destitute by “accidents.” It is meant, 
here particularly, the families of miners killed by 
coalpit explosions, which occur so frequently. Now, 
the miner is probably the worthiest working citizen 
in the commonwealth. For our good he submits 
not only to tremendous toil, but to the sacrifice of 
sunlight and the pure air of heaven, and cheerfully 
faces the risk of being himself among the percent- 
age of miners who every year get killed, something 
like one in thirty-eight. We owe more to the miner 
than we care to acknowledge. 

On the other hand, the criminal forfeits ordinary 
sympathy. The worst class, criminals who have 
just (unfortunately) dodged the hangman, society 
pronounces unfit to associate again with the commu- 
nity for a long time, if ever; i.e., society says they 
are unfit to live in the world. 

Yet we exalt these malefactors to the position of 
state pensioners, we give them palatial residences, 
a costly staff of liveried servents, with all the re- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 999 


sources of medical and sanitary science to prolong 
their precious lives to the last possible gasp—all at 
the expense of the honest, law abiding, virtuous 
taxpayer. And the coal getter? Well, we condemn 
him to banishment into the bowels of the earth, 
with the tolerably sure and certain hope of an ‘“ac- 
cidental”’ explosion, with loss of life or limb, and 
the probable pauperization of widows and orphans 
to follow. 

Suppose, by way of experimental reform, our all- 
wise legislature were to select the life sentence con- 
victs of the most worthless and repulsive type, and 
single out also the most dangerous mines. Suppose 
they were to place the former in the latter, say, for 
ten years’ daily labor. If, in the mysterious work- 
ings of Providence, an explosion were to bereave us 
_ of these our erring brethren, the calamity would 
not end the lives of our honest and industrious 
miners, who raise their families as good citizens. 
On the other hand, the saving in cost of prisons 
would go far to insure the safety of our worthy 
miners by providing better preventives of ‘ acci- 
dents.” 

The public asks that prisons be made self-sustain- 
ing, and at the same time they must not interfere 
with free labor. As long as the industrial system 
is carried on in penitentiaries as at present, so long 
will their labor operate against the outside work- 
ingman, but there is amedium wherein reformation 
and productive labor may meet. ‘There is no doubt 


300 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


but the ‘‘piece-price plan” is better than all others, 
as either the state or an individual may be in con- 
trol. A convict at work is doing no more than he 
should do if free, and he certainly should be 
obliged to support himself during his incarcera- 
tion. 

If prison made goods are to be placed in the 
market, they should be sold at free labor prices, 
and the proceeds should be judiciously expended 
towards the accomplishment of the convict’s reform- 
ation. 

In the second annual report of the National Bu- 
reau of Labor Statistics, Carroll D. Wright, Com- 
missioner, reports in favor of the state system, and 
favors what he calls the ‘‘hand-labor public ac- 
count system.” His conclusion is expressed as fol- 
lows: 

‘‘Hand-labor under the public account system 
offers many advantages over any other that has 
been suggested to the bureau. It involves the car- 
rying on of the industries of a prison for the bene- 
fit of the state, but without the use of power ma- 
chinery, tools and hand machines only being al- 
lowed, the goods to be made to consist of such arti- 
cles as boots and shoes, the coarse woolen and cot- 
ton cloths needed for the institution or for sale to 
other institutions, harnesses and saddlery, and ma- 
ny other goods now made by machinery or not now 
made at all in prisons.” 

Whatever policy may be pursued in the future, 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 801 


it is well settled in the minds of the people, espec- 
ially the workingmen, that convicts should be em- 
ployed with the least possible expense for machin- 
ery, and that their product should be disposed of 
so as not to conflict with honest labor. 


302 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XxX. 


LIQUOR AND THE WORKINGMAN. 


THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY EXPENDED FOR LI- 
QUOR—-MR. POWDERLY ARRAIGNS THE DRUNKARD— 
HIS POWERFUL SPEECH AT LYNN, MASS.——HOW LIQUOR 
PRODUCES POVERTY—FIFTEEN MILLION PEOPLE SPEND 
SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY FOR 
LIQUOR——LIQUOR COSTS THE PEOPLE THREE TIMES AS 
MUCH AS CLOTHING—INTEMPERANCE A CURSE TO THE 
WORKINGMAN. 


In an article on prohibition of the sale and man- 
ufacture of liquor, a writer in a leading southern 
paper says, as a matter of dollars and cents, the 
question of a tariff for revenue or protection, the fi- 
nancial policy and all others combined, pale into 
utter insignificance compared with the amount of 
money that is annually expended for that which de- 
stroys the peace of thousands of happy homes, 
brings degradation and want, brings the unfortu- 
nate victims to premature graves, and consigns them 
to an endless hell—from the best statistical inform- 


ew. 


THE VOICK OF LABOR. 303 


ation obtainable about nine hundred millions annu- 
ally for alcoholic drinks, all of which comes out of 
the pockets of the consumers. Estimating from all 
sources—federal, state and municipal—the revenue . 
derivable from this source, on the sale only, amounts 
to about three hundred millions of dollars. 

Mr. Powderly in a speech at Lynn, Mass., said: 
“Ten years ago I was hissed because I advised 
men to let strong drink alone. They threatened to 
rotten egg me. I[ have continued to advise men to 
be temperate, and though I have had no experience 
that would qualify me to render an opinion on the 
efficacy of a rotten egg as an ally of the rum drink- 
er, yet I would prefer to have my exterior decorat- 
ed from summit to base with the rankest kind of 
rotten eggs, rather than allow one drop of liquid 
villainy to pass my lips, or have the end of my 
nose illuminated by a blossom that follows a plant- 
ing of the seeds of hatred, envy, malice and dam- 
nation, all of which are represented in a solitary 
glass of gin. | 

Ten years ago the cause of temperance was not 
so respectable as it is to-day, because there were 
not so many respectable men and women advocat- 
ing it. It has gained ground; itis gaining ground, 
and all because men and women who believe in it 
could not be browbeaten or frightened. Neither 
the hissing of serpents nor the throwing of rotten 
eggs has stopped or even delayed the march of 
temperance among the workers. 


304 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Why doI so bitterly arraign the poor drunkard? 
For the reason that he is a drunkard, and because 
he has made himself poor through his love of drink. 
Did I or any other man, rob him of the money he 
has squandered in drink; did I make him poor, the 
vilest names that tongue can frame would be ap- 
plied to me. Must I stand idly by and remain 
silent while he robs himself? Did he rob only him- 
self it would not make so much difference. He robs 
parents, wife and children. He robs his aged fath- 
er and mother through love of drink. He gives for 
rum what should go for their support. When they 
murmur he turns them from his door, and points 
his contaminating drunken finger toward the poor- 
house. He next turns toward his wife and robs her 
of what should be devoted to the keeping of her 
home in comfort and plenty. He robs her of her 
wedding ring and pawns it for drink. He turns his" 
daughter from his door in a fit of drunken anger 
and drives her to the house of prostitution, and 
then accepts from ‘her hand the proceeds of her 
shame. To satisfy his love of drink he takes the 
price of his child’s virtue and innocence from her 
sin stained, lust bejeweled fingers, and with it tot- 
ters to the bar to pay it to the man who ‘‘does not 
deny the justice of my position.” I don’t arraign 
the man who drinks because he is poor, but because 
through being a slave to drink he has made him- 
self and family poor. I do not hate the man who 
drinks, for I have carried drunken men to their 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 305 


homes on my back, rather than allow them to re- 
main exposed to inclement weather. I do not hate 
the drunkard—he is what drink has effected, and 
while I do not hate the effect, I abhor and loathe 
the cause. 

Take the list of labor societies of America, and 
the total sum paid into their treasuries from all 
sources from their organization to the present time 
will not exceed $5,000,000. The Knights of Labor 
is the largest and most influential of them all, and 
though so much has been said concerning the vast 
amount of money that has been collected from the 
members, yet the total sum levied and collected for 
all purposes—per capita tax, assistance fund, ap- 
peals, assessment, Insurance and co-operation—up 
to the present time will not exceed more than 
$800,000. 

The total sum collected for the first nine years of 
the existence of the general assembly was but $500,- 
724.14. In nine years less than $600,000 were 
collected to uplift humanity to a higher plane, and 
to bring the workers to a realizing sense of their 
actual condition in life. It took less than $600,- 
000 to teach the eivilized world that workingmen 
could build up an organization that could shed such 
light upon the doings of landlords, bond-lords, mo- - 
nopolists and other trespassers of the domain of 
popular rights, that they were forced to halt for a 
time and stand up to explain, Less than $600,000 
(not a dollar unaccounted for), and on the statute 


306 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


books of the nation will you find the impress of the 
workingman’s hand. On the law book of every 
state can be traced the doing of labor’s representa- 
tives. Less than $600,000 to create a revolution 
greater, further reaching in its consequences and 
more lasting in its benefits, than the revolution 
which caused the streets of the towns and cities of 
France to run red with human blood less than a 
century ago. Less than $600,000 to make men fear — 
and believe that woman’s work should equal that of 
the man. Less than $600,000 to educate men and wo- 
men to believe that ‘“‘moral worth and not wealth is 
the true standard of individual and national great- 
ness.” Less than $600,000 to cause every newspaper 
in the land to speak of the work being done by the 
Knights of Labor—some of them speaking in abu- 
sive terms, and others speaking words of praise, ac- 
cording to the interests represented by the papers 
or according as the work done harmonized with the 
principles of the order. : 

In one day an employer’s association organizes 
and pledges itself to contribute $5,000,000 to fight 
labor. The next day the papers are almost silent 
on that point, but are filled to the brim with lurid ac- 
counts of the reckless autocratic manner in which the 
officers of the Knights of Labor levy a 25-cent as- 
sessment to keep over 1,000 locked out men and 
women from starvation. Putting two and two to- 
gether, itis not hard to guess why papers that 
applauded the action of the employers in one col- 







‘SUAMOTST HILLOG AHL SNOWY 


eee 


~~ i 23 
oot ¢) as 


re} a 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 309 


umn should in another column advise the workers 
not to pay the twenty-five cent assessment. $600,000 
for sober men to use in education and self-improve- 
ment. 

Now let us turn to the other side. In the city of 
New York alone it is estimated that not less than 
$250,000 a day are spent for drink, $1,500,000 in 
one week, $75,000,000 in one year. Who will dis- 
pute it when Isay that one-half of the policemen of 
New York city are employed to watch the beings who 
squander $75,000,000 a year? Who will dispute it 
when I say the money spent in paying the salaries 
and expenses of one-half of the police of New York 
could be saved to the taxpayersif $75,000,000 were 
not devoted to making drunkards, thieves, prosti- 
tutes, and other subjects for the policeman’s net to 
gather in? If $250,000 go over the counters of the 
rum-seller in one day in New York city alone, who 
will dare to assert that the workingmen to-day do 
not pay one-fifth, or $50,000, of that sum? 

If workingmen in New York city spend $50,000 
a day for drink, they spend $300,000 a week, leav- 
ing Sunday out, In one month they spend $1, 200,- 
000— over twice as much money as was paid into the 
_ general assembly of the Knights of Labor in nine 
years. In six weeks they spend $1, 800,000——near- 
ly three times as much money as that army of o-gan- 
ized workers, the Knights of Labor, have spent from 
the day the general assembly was first called to or- 
der up to the present day; and in one year the work- 


310 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


ingmen of New York city will have spent for beer 
and rum $15,600,000, or enough to purchase and 
equip a first-class line of their own — $15,600,000, 
enough money to invest in such co-operation as 
would forever end the strike and lockout as ameans 
of settling disputes in labor circles. 

A single county in Pennsylvania, so I am inform- 
ed, spent in one year $17,000,000 for drink. That 
county contains the largest industrial population, 
comparatively, of any in the state. $11,000,000 of 
the $17,000,000 come from the pockets of working- 
men. New York city,in one year, contributes $15,- 
600,000 to keep men and women in poverty, hunger 
and cold, while one county in Pennsylvania adds 
$11,000,000, making 4 total of $26,600,000. 

I am not a fanatic—I do not damn the man who 
sells liquor. I have nothing against him. Many men 
‘who now sell liquor were once workingmen, and 
were victimized through a strike or lockout. I would 
not injure a hair of their heads, but I would so edu- 
cate workingmen that they would never enter a sa- 
loon. Then the money saved from rum, and rum 
holes, would go to purchase necessaries, and such an 
increased stimulus would be given to trade that the 
rum-seller could return to an honest way of making 
a living. 

I may be taken to task for being severe on the 
workingmen. It may be said that I slander them 
even. If to tell the truth is to be severe, then on 
this one question | hope some day to be severity it- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. SEL 


self: but I speak to workingmen, because it is in 
their welfare that I am interested. I have not been 
delegated to watch or guard the fortunes of million- 
aires, and in no way can I hope to accomplish any- 
thing until I state my policy freely and frankly to 
those I represent. We are seeking to reform existing 
evils. We must first reform ourselves.” 

In the report issued in July, 1887, by the Bureau 
of Statistics, at Washington, it is shown that the to- 
_.tal annual expenditure for liquors at retail in the 
United States is sEVEN HUNDRED MILLLION DOLLARS, 
and that the drinking population is about rirreEeN 
MILLION PERSONS. In 1880 (last census) the total pro- 
duct of our four great industries were, viz.: 

COCHIN sae taro ainia te esa PLT L ODO, 204 

COGLON FEOOUS. . ci oles sisinees eo sf 210,900,080 

Wioolem-GOOUS a2. o. eweies.¢. ov 100,606,721 

EPOficatid: SteG) sin exces cers aie wee ee 20 0; 00 (, 09D 


By comparison we see that the amount of money 
spent for liquor was more than three times greater 
than that expended for ready made clothing: that it 
was in excess of the value of the total combined pro- 
duct of the cotton, woolen, and iron and steel indus- 
tries, and not much less than the value of the pro- 
duct of all four of the industries named. Of the 
fifteen million people who wasted this vast sum,each 
man expended nearly one dollar a week in gratifying 
abase appetite. Every dollar of all this money was 
just as much wasted asif it had been dumped in the 
ocean. Indeed, such disposition of it would have 


oly THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


been wise economy compared with that which was 
really made of it, for only the first cost of the rum 
appears in the sum of $700,000,000. 

Probably the amount would be increased more 
than fifty per cent if we should ascertain the cost of 
the crime, pauperism, and insanity which always 
follow the product of the rum traffic. Now, sup- 
pose all this money, three times the value of the to- 
taliron product of the country, had been expended 
for things useful, comfortable, and necessary, does 
any man believe there would be complaint of over- 
production? Would any laborer who wanted to work 
be forced into idleness? Is it not clear that there 
would be such a stimulus for business as would give 
to this country prosperity more than at any time 
in the past, with good wages for work. The great 
majority of these fifteen million people are work- 
ingmen. 


Os, THE VOICE OF LABOR. Sis 


CHAPTER XXI. 


THE FARMER AND HIS INTERESTS. 


CAPITAL DRIFTING AWAY FROM AGRICULTURE — THE 
LABOR QUESTION LINKED WITH THE FARMER — HON. 
W. F. SADLER BEFORE THE GRANGE — AN ABLE DIS- 
COURSE — A STARTLING ARRAY OF FACTS AND FIG- 
URES—THE AVARICE OF CAPITAL—MR. JOHN NORRIS 
ON RAILROAD MONOPOLY — CHARLES SEARS’ MEAS- 
URES—A BALEFUL WARNING—-MR. CHARLES SEARS’ 
EXPOSITION OF TRUTHS — PUBLIC CARRIERS AND 
MONEY LOANERS ARE ABSORBING CAPITAL——A PEACE- 
FUL MODE OF ADJUSTMENT—-MEASURES AND REME- 
DIES——-UNITED EFFORT BY REFORM PARTIES NEC- 
ESSARY TO SUCCESS—-LABOR ASCENDING THE THRONE 
OF POLITICS. 


Tue gradual drifting of capital from agriculture to 
industrial centers, during the past fifty years, has 
produced its effect. Farming to-day is not the pay- 
ing vocation it has been, and the true wealth of the 
nation is suffering from a great shrinkage on ac- 
count of the farmer’s inability to reap his due meas- 
ure of products. Linked with the interests of our 

21 


314 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


farmers are the interests of trade, manufacturing, 
commerce, and the welfare of the entire country. 

Inseparably connected with the great question of 
labor, which has been forced to the surface of the 
stream of current affairs, is the depressed condition 
of agriculture. 

Hon. W. F. Sadler, in eG before the Grange 
inter-state exhibition, 1886, said: ‘+ While the pre- 
eminence of the importance of agriculture over that 
of any other art of man has always existed in fact, 
yet it will be conceded that it has been slow in se- 
curing deserved recognition and rightful apprecia- 
tion: It will be also agreed by the intelligent and 
observant, that as its true relations to the other oc- 
cupations is becoming thus more properly under- 
stood, the propriety, desirability and necessity that 
it should be thoroughly studied, wisely practiced, 
and it needs have due regard become the more ap- 
parent. It has not only long been, as it now is, 
the chief subsistence of the race, but its prosperity 
has had an intimate relation to the progression of 
the latter. Indeed, in the rudimentary tillimg of 
the soil the individual could only produce bread for 
himself and family, and there was, therefore, no 
surplus human force to make development sete 
in other lines. 

Men could only devote brain and energy and 
muscle to the other human pursuits which character- 
ize our modern civilization, when less than the 
whole number could provide food for the whole. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 315 


It needs no demonstration to show that the fewer 
of the population required for the one purpose the 
more can be employed in others, and also that 
the more perfect system of agriculture the less num- 
ber of persons will be needed to furnish the produc- 
tion necessary for supply. 

To-day the crops seem to be the business barom- 
eter of our nation. Trade halts until it learns what 
their condition is. The <‘ bulls’ and ‘bears’ of our 
great commercial centres alike listen with bated 
breath, while the telegraph tells of the growing, gath- 
ering, garnering and yield of the harvest fields of 
the land. Upon them the railroad is dependent for 
freight, the banker for exchange, the country for 
exports, and the whole world for bread. 

Their abundance, in short, is the harbinger of 
business prosperity, while their failure is the pre- 
cursor of diminished trade, if not of pecuniary dis- 
tress. 

Besides, it claims special attention on account of 
the multitudes engaged in the cultivation of the 
soil. Of all those enlisted in occupations in the 
United States more than forty-four per cent are 
enumerated in our last census as being agricultur- 
alists. So that, in addition to the relative import of 
this industry, there is the immediate dependence 
upon it of a much larger factor of our population 
than upon that of any other. It may be safely as- 
,sumed, I think, that more than one-half of all our 
male population of an age fit to work are engaged 


316 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


in producing crops, and in the transportation and 
delivery of them to the consumer. 

There has been too little of this in the past— 
there is not enough at the present. The Thom- 
ases, Piollets and Rhones of the Granger move- 
ment have done much to infuse a proper spirit in 
this respect into the farmer—but much remains 
to be accomplished. It is time that there was less 
of humility on part of those who cultivate the soil, 
and more pride. It has too long been considered 
degrading to dig. The tiller of the soil does the 
most beneficial work of man, and the regard of so- 
ciety for hislabor should be proportionate in de- 
gree. It may also be observed that a proper esti- 
mate by the farmer of his own calling will tend to 
insure a juster one by others, and would be _ pro- 
ductive as well on his part of an assertiveness, justi- 
fied by the position which should be accorded to, 
taken and maintained by those upon the skill and 
productivity of whose toil annually depends the 
chief food of all the people. The -husbandman’s 
boys would also more highly regard the father’s oc- 
cupation if he himself accorded to it due consider- 
ation, and there would thus likely be less anxiety 
on their part to seek other employments. 

While press and forum and party platform prop- 
erly vie in the attention given to the grievances, 
wants and rights of the employers of our great 
manufacturing, mining and mechanical industries,, 
it were well to remember that the cultivators of the 


Sak Seah ary 


ae Ue ne HOt) ea ; ae 


¥ rad 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. sy We 


soil also have wrongs, and wants, and rights, entitl- 
ed to a high and present regard—the laborers among 
them nearly equaling those in the departments al- 
luded to. That while the nation’s brain throbs with 
speculations and plans, as to how content may come 
to the hand at the factory and shop, and, by what 
method of computation a fair distribution of the 
earnings of labor and capital may be allotted be- 
tween employer and employe, it must not be forgot- 
ten that the husbandmen are a craft of workmen, 
not only more ancient in its institution, mightier in 


its proportions,and more essential to society’s well 


being, as well as to existence of mankind, but also 
that problems, numerous, complicated and fraught 
with the highest importance to their welfare, demand 
consideration. 

Some of these are even now invoking the con- 
cern and affecting the interests of the farmer, espec- 
ially of the Eastern states—such as the rates at 
which these products shall be transported to mar- 
ket, while others, more serious, as how land shall be 
held and how let to the tenant, are eliciting not 
only the attention, but affecting the prosperity, dis- 
turbing the quiet and imperiling the peace of the 
most powerful as well as the wisest nation on the 
globe, and for which no method of solution has yet 
been found.” 

It is pertinent at all times to scrutinize our sur- 
roundings, and a glance backward over the road we 
have traveled never does harm. What progress we 


318 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


have made is a subject well worth examining. How 
has the farmer and wage-worker been affected by 
the absorption of railroads, by pools and by monop- 
olies? A glance at results tells the tale. A dollar 
invested in one of the largest and most productive 
states (Pennsylvania) in 1880, yielded a smaller re- 
turn than in any of the other states. Pennsylvania 
has thousands of miles of railroads. 


PERCENTAGE oF Farm Propuction to Farm 
VALUE In 1880, 


NORTH ATLANTIC GROUP. 


Maine, - - - 21. Connecticut, - .15 
New Hampshire, .17 New York, - .16 4-5 
Vermont, - - .20 New Jersey - .154 
Massachusetts, - .164 Pennsylvania,  .13 1-5 
Rhodelsland,- - .14 


SOUTH ATLANTIC GROUP. 


Delaware, - - .17 North Carolina, - .38 
Maryland, - .17 South Carolina, - .61 
Districtof Columbia.14 Georgia, -  - - 59 


NORTHERN CENTRAL GROUP. 


Ohio, - - - .14 Iowa, - . - .24 
Indiana, - iS Missouri, - “5.25 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 319 


NORTHERN CENTRAL GROUP—OCOONTINUED. 


Illinois, - - .20 Dakota, - - .25 
Michigan, eared | Nebraska, mrtg ye hs, 
Wisconsin, - - .20 Kansas, - - .22 
Minnesota, Stay 25. 


SOUTHERN CENTRAL GROUP. 


Kentucky, - - .21 Louisiana, - - 71 
Tennessee, - .80 Texas, -. 74.08 
Alabama, - - .72 Arkansas, - “59 
Mississippi, -  .68 


WESTERN GROUP. 


Montana, - - .62 Nevada, : - .52 
Wyoming, - 44 Idaho, - - 54 
Colorado, - - .20 Washington Ter. - .30 
New Mexico, -  .34 Oregon, - ~ 7 323 
Arizona, - - .54 California, - - .22 
Utah,- - eaeee 


Each combination of capital makes the working- 
man more dependent, and renders it the more diffi- 
cult for the small manufacturer to conduct his busi- 
ness. By glancing over the census report of 1880, 
it is apparent that centralization of capital is crowd- 
ing out the workingmen by reducing the number of 
establishments. 


320 THE VOICE OF. LABOR. 


REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MANUFACTURING ESTABLISH- 
MENTS FROM 1870 to 1880. 


STATE. 1870. 1880. Repucrron. 
Pennsylvania, - 37,800 31,232 5,968 
Missouri, - 115871 8,502 3,279 
Ohio, - - 22,773 20,699 9,074 
Maine, - 5,550 4,481 1,069 
Louisiana, - - 9,557 1,558 1,004 
Tennessee, - 3,347 4,326 ok 
Indiana, - = 118412115105 649 
Connecticut, - 5,128 4,488 640 
Michigan, - - 9,455 8,873 582 
Vermont, - 3,270 2, 874 396 
Mississippi, iets Gr 1,479 252 
Georgia, - 3,836 3,508 243 
Florida, - - 659 496 233 
Virginia, - 5,933 5,710 223 
New Hampshire, - 3,342 3,181 161 
Nevada, x 330 184 146 
Alabama, - - 2,188 2,070 118 
West Virginia,- 9,444 2,375 69 
Kentucky, - - 5,300 5,328 62 
Delaware, - 800 746 54 


‘On every side we see,” writes Mr. John Mor- 
ris, of the ‘*Philadelphia Daily Record,” “ that 
wealth and power are drifting into few hands. We 
find traces of this condition not only in railroad 
consolidations but in the coal combination, the coke 
syndicate, the Western Union Telegraph Company, 





HON. JOHN SEITz. 


ee 
t tae 


pes 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 39a 


the Standard Oil Company, and the hundred other 
parasites of our railroads. We find combinations 
of capital against which the individual is helpless, 
creating classes that are fabulously rich and classes 
that are shockingly poor. We find deepening want 
with increasing wealth. Individual enterprise has 
given way to the corporations. The factory is su- 
perseding the mechanic, and the larger farm is ab- 
sorbing the smaller farm. 

‘¢We find some few natural monopolies due to 
invention and to healthy business enterprise, and 
we find many artificial monopolies that are due to 
special and discriminating rates and to the evils that 
characterized our railroad policy. The harmony 
and symmetry of our development has been dis- 
turbed by these improper influences, A condition 
of affairs has been created which will soon become 
intolerable. _ In view of these appalling facts is 
there not a necessity for arousing the public con- 
science? Is there not a necessity for warning the 
people against these baleful tendencies of the 
times ?” 

_ Mr. Charles Sears, in an able essay on the causes 
of the financial and industrial depression of the 
times, says: 3 

“Taxes are finally liquidated with products. 
There are no other means of payment. The accu- 
mulated wealth of cities, towns and country is sur- 
plus product. The rate of accumulation is estimated 
at about three per cent annually. 


824 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


‘¢From tables of statistics it appears that in the 
western states about three-fourths of the farms are 
mortgaged for one-third to three-fourths of their 
current value; and that this class of debt bears in- 
terest at seven to twelve per cent yearly; and that - 
it is rapidly increasing, as it must do, for the rates 
of interest paid exceed the rate of property in- 
crease. The farmers, therefore, are contributing 
more than their surplus tothe sum of wealth, they 
trench upon the capital, and consequently, are 
steadily passing out of the ranks of independent 
citizens into a class of tenant farmers, or that of 
wage-workers. Can this, in any sense, be deemed 
a safe state of affairs ? 

‘Why do farmers have to borrow money? Be- 
cause their produce will not pay the cost of produc 
tion. Why are prices realized by farmers so low? 
A chief reason is the cost of transportation of pro- 
ducts. The average cost of transportation is stated 
to bea fraction less than five mills per ton per mile. 
The prices exacted and paid range from three to 
six times that rate. It appears, therefore, that the 
transportation companies and money lenders are 
absorbing not only the surplus of production, but 
capital also; and that with the present rates of in- 
terest and freight, the production of grain, cattle, 
horses, wool, cotton, etc., are, economically consid- 
ered, impossible industries. | 

‘¢The government has delegated, by charter, the 
power to Banking Corporations to issue money and 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 325 


control the circulating volume and thereby deter- 
mine the rate of interest; to railroad companies the 
power to tax the public ‘what the traffic will 
bear.’ Between these two the producer of raw ma- 
terial is confiscated, for with high rates of interest 
and high freight rates his property is confiscated, 
and this through chartered privilege. He might as 
well be out of the world as without property. 

‘This is an unsafe condition, an unjust relation of 
producer, middlemen and consumer. It is a con- 
dition which cannot endure, for in the end, proper- 
ty acquired without rendering a fair equivalent is 
an unsafe possession. An adjustment, in which the 
equities shall be considered, must come, either 
peacefully or through violence. 

‘When class rises against class in desperation, 
reason 1s in abeyance, passion rules. The steady 
drain of property from producer to the coffers of 
transportation companies and bankers is disinteg- 
rating society—dividing it intorich and poor,a state 
we are rapidly approaching—that of distinctly de- 
fined classes. This is the direct road to violent re- 
clamations. 3 

‘(A peaceful mode of adjustment would be for the 
government to acquire possession of the railroads at 
a fair valuation and manage them at cost. This 
would put railroads on the same footing as are 
country roads—both would be public property and 
both maintained at cost. 

« Another measure tending toward a peaceful is- 


326 THE VOICR OF LABOR. 


sue from dangerous wants would be the issue of 
money direct to the people on their own securities, 
repayable in five per cent yearly installments with 
yearly - interest at three per cent, which would be 
part of the public revenue, divided equally to the 
treasuries of the counties, the state and the general 
government, and be so much in lieu of taxes. 

‘‘A still further measure tending in the same di- 
rection would be the organization of production and 
exchange in the interest of producer and consumer. 
These measures would save us from impending 
bankruptcy and perhaps a worse condition, for they 
leave to the producer the fruit of his labor and so 
remove the causes of discontent.” 

The stumbling block to reform movements here- 
tofore, has been in a lack of united effort and the 
consolidation of different parties. Petty factions 
and egotistical opinions have served to prevent a 
national union of workingmen, and results have been 
of little value. 

Labor is ascending the throne of politics, but un- 
til it fully comprehends the power of the ballot, and 
presents a united front at the polls, it will never 
grasp the sceptre. 


eu) 
bo 
=T 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XXII. 


FOREIGNERS AND FOREIGNERS. 


THE IMMIGRATION OF TO-DAY A GREAT EVIL—5)00, 000 
IMMIGRANTS IN 1887—oOFFICIAL FIGURES—OVER 
8,000,000 ALIENS IN THIS COUNTRY—A FLOOD OF 
PAUPERS AND CRIMINALS TAINTING THE NATION— 
H. H. BOYESEN ON UNRESTRICTED IMMIGRATION—THE 
EVIL OF ANARCHY AND COMMUNISM ONE OF THE 
CURSES OF THE FOULSTREAM—SUMMARY LEGISLATION 
A JUST DEMAND OF WORKINGMEN — AMERICAN LA- 
BOR MENACED BY FOREIGN IMMIGRATION —— HOSTILE 
SENTIMENT THROUGHOUT THE LAND—A QUESTION OF 
THE DAY. 


Tae workingmen of the United States have 
awakened to the fact that a great evil lurks in the 
tide of immigration which has so long set in upon 
this country. Notwithstanding the extended lim- 
its of our domain there is a feeling that we are 
crowded, especially in large cities. 

The huge ocean steamers daily landat their docks, 
and thousands of the substratum of European hu 


o 


398 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


I 


manity swarm from their gangways. To this unre- 
stricted immigration is justly attributed one of the 
disturbing elements which has much to do with the 
problem labor is endeavoring to solve. Since the 
Declaration of Independence was signed, over four- 
teen millions of immigrants have crossed the 
ocean and made their homes in the United 
States. 

The increase in immigration in May, 1887, was 
28,400 over the same month of the preceding year, 
and the increase in the eleven months ending with 
May, was 133,600. This means that over half a 
million foreigners have come to this country during 
the last fiscal year. The official reports do not 
give the number from Canada and Mexico across 
the border, and the number of such immigrants is 
known to be considerable. In 1884-5, the last 
year for which it was officially reported, this immi- 
gration was 38,614; with the general decline in im- 
migration last year it may have fallen to 30,000, but 
with the general increase this year it has probably 
risen to 40,000 or more. 

The most accurate computation for the increase 
of population during twenty years ending with 1880, 
proves to be that which allows 2 per cent yearly for 
increase by the excess of births over deaths, and 
then adds the immigration each year. At that rate 
the increase each year since July 1, 1880,would be 
as follows: 





_ 


‘THE VOICE OF LABOR. 329 


Increase. Immigration. 

TSS0-1 eee a 1 008 FS 669,431 
TSE se aes eee ais ako, 000 788,992 
ASBO- Bien Oye eee OTS! OTT 603,322 
1 S83 dee a tee wos 1 106,000 518,592 
TSR tbe ee i. 1199-109 395,346 
MSS OeOe es er cee 1,109,199 384,203 
Teno eee ee 100-878 500,000 
Total - - - 17,728,149 3,809,886 


In the statement of immigration for the last and 
the current year the official figures are followed, 
embracing no allowance for immigrants from Cana- 
da or Mexico. 

If 70,000 be added for these the aggregate popu- 
lation July 1, 1887, would be 61,763,818, unless the 
increase by excess of births over deaths has been 
smaller during the present than during the preced- 
ing decades. 

Without any allowance for Canadian immigra- 
tion the population July 1 would appear on this 
basis to be about 61,700,000. The fact that all 
treasury estimates give lower figures is in the main 
explained by their failure to make separate allow- 
ance for the immigration, which has been larger 
during the recent than in any previous decade. As 
the table shows, the addition by immigration alone, 
has exceeded 3,800,000 in seven years, and has 
been almost half the increase from all other sources. 


22 


330 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Maintaining the same average increase of 1,650- 
000 for the remaining three years of the decade, 
the census of June, 1890, will find close on 66,000,- 
000 of inhabitants within the limits of the great re- 
public. 

In 1887 Great Britain and Ireland furnished the 
largest number. Of the arrivals in May, 29,277 
were from the British Isles, 16,416 being from Ire- 
land, while the German immigration was but 18,- 
086 and the Scandinavian 13,139. Italy furnish- 
ed the comparatively large number of 8,642. Dur- 
ing March and April the British immigration great- 
ly exceeded the Irish. There is a growing disin- 
clination among the British mechanics who are not 
satisfied to live at home to go to the colonies. They 
prefer the United States. It is said that seventy- 
five per cent of those who go to Canada finally find 
their way here. The question whether this large 
European immigration is an unmixed ‘blessing is 
engaging the serious attention of thoughtful Amer- 
icans. 

According to the last census, there were 6,677- 
360 aliens in the United States, and the succeeding 
years have swelled the number above eight millions. 
At present, the critical condition of military affairs 
in Europe and increased taxation has stimulated 
immigration anew, and public attention is called to 
the fact, that the quality of this influx of population 
is undesirable, 

Stringent legislation is needed to divert the con- 


SEN Sy ane 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 3381 


stant stream of pauperism and imbecility which is 
pouring into our fair land. 

A recent editorial upon this subject, in the ‘Chi- 
cago Tribune,” is as follows: ‘‘In Iowa for instance, 
the principal asylum has just been enlarged for the 
third. time, and yet the improvement was hardly 
completed before more room was demanded, and 
this too, notwithstanding the fact that extensive hos- 
pitals for the insane had been established in other 
parts of the state. Much the same experience can 
be noted in all parts of the North and West where 
there is a large inflow of population from Europe, 
and yet by a singular inversion of logic the opinion is 
that overwork, nervous tension, or some other char- 
acteristic feature of American life has caused the re- 
markable increase in the percentage of insane per- 
sons. Dr. Gilman, a leading expert in insanity, 
says this is all a mistake; that the proportion of in- 
sane among the native-born population remains 
about the same, and the increase comes from the 
wholesale importation of lunatics from Central Eu- 
rope. Along with the deported paupers and quasi- 
criminals coming to this country is a flood of wretch- 
ed creatures on the verge of insanity and sure to be- 
come in a brief time tenants of our tax-supported 
asylums. Diseased blood is brought into this coun- 
try, and capital and labor are taxed heavier every 
year to provide maintenance for the hordes 
of lunatics and paupers arriving from Enu- 
“rope. 


302 THE VOICE OF LABOR: 


‘*When General Master Workman Powderly, 
of the Knights of Labor, and President Depew, of 
the New York Central Railroad—men representing 
interests in wide contrast—are found equally urgent 
in advocating a restriction of immigration, itis clear 
that the question will soon become one of earnest 
agitation. Without wasting any discussion on such 
a matter as the importation of paupers, lunatics, and 
criminals as still carried on under the existing lax 
laws, Powderly says he is opposed to a great deal 
of immigration, pure and simple, and would allow 
no immigrant to land unless provided with means 
of support for a year. Depew presents something 
of the same thought when he declares that the ex- 
haustion of the public domain and the disappear- 
of the unbought homestead will soon put the mat- 
ter of immigration on anew footing. In fact, ow- 
ing tothe causes stated, the character of the immi- 
gration to the United States is changing already. 
The government reports show a falling off of seventy 
per cent in the number of farmers, mechanics, and 
trained workers entering the United States from Eu- 
rope, and the substitution of unskilled laborers, va- 
grants, paupers, and representatives of all the de- 
fective and dependent classes. 

‘¢Such of these undesirable newcomers as do not 
become an immediate burden on the public, simply 
enter the overcrowded labor markets of the large 
cities, and throw their weight into the scale to de-~ 
press wages and promote labor troubles and discon- 





BESSEMER STEEL MANUFACTORY. 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. OOO 


tent. Grandiloquent talk about the United States 
as an asylum for the oppressed of all nations was 
well enough when the government had an immense 
unappropriated domain, and by the offer of free 
homesteads was able to attract enterprising, thrifty 
home-seekers from Europe to the Western territories. 
These conditions are changing rapidly, and instead 
of attracting the old class of immigration the Unit- 
ed States is becoming a dumping ground for the 
refuse of Central Europe. The evil is getting in- 
tolerable. The present restrictions on immigration 
are practically inoperative, and congress must pro- 
vide some effective means to shut out, at least, the 
paupers, lunatics, and criminals voided on the Unit- 
ed States from the jails, almshouses, and asylums of 
‘Central Europe.” 

Apart from the question of its necessity, accord- 
ing to Mr. H. H. Boyesen, there are indications on 
all hands that public opinion is ripe for legislation 
tending to restrict and regulate immigration. The 
congressman who shall initiate such legislation need 
have no fear of alienating the immigrant voters. 
The great majority of them, so far as I have been 
able to ascertain, would favor a law having such an 
end in view. The second biennial report of the 
Wisconsin Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statis- 
tics (1885-6) shows conclusively that public opinion 
in the West has been undergoing a great change 
on this question since the anarchists made their ap- 
pearance, and labor troubles have led to disturbance 


336 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


and loss of property in many states. The report of 
the commissioner is of particular interest, because 
Wisconsin has a very large foreign population; and 
the overwhelming sentiment in favor of restriction 
may therefore be taken to indicate that the immi- 
grants themselves would not object to having the 
gates shut against theirown countrymen. The re- 
port particularly emphasizes the fact that ‘a large 
percentage even of those demanding total prohibi- 
tion for longer or shorter periods are foreign born, 
and some mention this circumstance as a reason 
why they know better than others the necessity of 
taking the question thoroughly in hand.’ Out of a 
total number of about 40,000 employes interrogat- 
ed, 14,561 returned no answer, 5,728 declared 
themselves in favor of ‘unqualified restriction,’ 
4,059 favored ‘total prohibition,’ 6,316 wished to 
exclude socialists and anarchists, 2,928 paupers 
and criminals, 1,998 wanted a property qualification, 
220 an educational test, and 1,320 thought all 
should be excluded except those of ‘ good charac- 
ter... Among the employers, too, a similar senti- 
ment in favor of restriction and even exclusion was 
proved to exist; and I do not doubt that, if the com- 
missioners of labor statistics in other states should 
extend their inquiries so as to include this question, 
they would arrive at similar results. 

That something must be done before very long is 
obvious. Merely to extend the term required for 
naturalization, as the Wisconsin legislature has re- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. Bt 


cently done, is of no avail. It is not the privileges 
of American citizenship which entice the immigrant 
away from his old home; it is the prospect of earn- 
ing an easier living. The sentiment hostile to im- 
migration, which from time to time has swept over 
the country, has usually found expression in some 
such law; as when congress, in 1798, required a 
residence of fourteen years before citizenship could 
be acquired. This law was, however, repealed in 
1802. Restriction, if it is to be effective, must pro- 
hibit entrance to certain specified classes of people; 
and no immigrant should be permitted to land un- 
less he can exhibit a certificate, signed by the Amer- . 
ican consul at the port from which he has sailed, 
showing that he possesses the qualifications, what- 
ever they may be, which the law shall require. Such 
a requisition would, of course, greatly increase 
the labor and responsibility of the consuls, and 
might necessitate an increase in the numbers of 
these officials. But as a consulate, in all but the 
principal commercial cities, is at present almost a 
sinecure, this objection can scarcely be regarded as 
a serious one. 

The unexpended surplus now in the labor mar- 
ket is steadily increased by immigration, and the 
fact is patent that our republican institutions are 
menaced. The alarming outbreaks of socialistic 
and communistic conspiracies unerringly show the 
character of the material which is pouring into the 


338 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


great industrial centers, and the evil annually in- 
creases. Effective restriction of immigration is 
imperatively demanded by American working- 
men. 





i THE VOICE OF LABOR. 339 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


THOUGHTS OF TO-DAY. 


HON. JOHN SEITZ—-LABOR ENTITLED TO FIRST CONSID- 
ERATION—OPINIONS OF R. F. ROWELL—HON. GEORGE 
L. WELLINGTON—HON. JESSE HARPER — HON. 0. W. 
BARNARD —H. E. BALDWIN—HON. ALF. TAYLOR—N. 
M. LOVIN— ©. B. FENTON-—C. T. PARKER—REV. DR. 
THOMAS — G. W. PHILLIPPO — O. J. SUTTON—wW. H. 
ROBB—J. D. HARDY—-W. W. JONES—COM. MINERS 
AND MINE LABORERS-—W. H. DAVIDSON—R. ©. MC- 
BEATH—D. W. SMITH—N. B. STACK—-HON. WILLIAM 
BAKER—JAMES MITCHELL—-HON. A. J. STREETOR— 
THE notorious HAZARD CIRCULAR — a. a. 
BEATON. 


_ Wartr ‘issues” may change from time to time as 
a result of changed conditions, the objects of gov- 
ernment should ever be the same—to protect all 
men and all classes of society in the enjoyment of 
‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Give 
all occupations equal legal opportunities for self- 
support and self-improvement, and protect the weak 


340 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


against the cunning of the unscrupulous, and the 
rapacity of the strong. 

‘‘With Lincoln, I believe that ‘ Labor being prior 
to and the creator of capital, is entitled to the first 
consideration.’ ‘That not the laborer only, but all 
classes of society are interested in the elevation and 
prosperity of the productive labor of the country. 
The peace and safety of society and the stability of 
good governmentdemand encouragement and respect 
for honest industry. Hence a broad and wise 
statesmanship will aim at the upbuilding of the la- 
boring people so that every willing worker shall be 
able to acquire a home of his own, the dearest spot 
on earth, which he can improve and beautify with- 
out fear of losing; where he can rear his little 
ones like a true American freeman. Thus will con- 
tented labor become the sheet anchor of law and 
order at home, and the right arm of the state against 
foreign foes. 

‘sWith Daniel Webster, I believe that a concentra- 
tion of the country’s wealth in few hands fastens 
aristocracy upon us, no matter what the form of our 
government. The colossal fortunes made in a few 
years through corporate privileges should alarm ev- 
ery lover of justice and republican government. 
Natural resources, the machinery of production and 
distribution, and the government itself have fallen 
into the hands of organized greed. Hence pov- 
erty and destitution in the midst of plenty, and the 
blasphemous cry goes out, ‘ Over-production is the 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 341 


cause.’ There can be no over-production till every 
industrious person shall enjoy a comfortable share 
ot the good things of life. The prime cause of 
labor’s hardships may be found in the inadequate 
and costly machinery for distributing the products 
of labor. 7 

_ «When congress shall resume its constitutional 
power ‘to coin money and regulate its value,’ and 
render it stable by supplying an ample and uniform 
volume, and drive the ‘money changers from the 
temple’ by making all money of equal legal tender; 
when it operates telegraphs and railways at cost, 
when it drives foreign and domestic landlords and 
nabobs into the sea by a ‘graduated tax; when 
these things are done, ‘labor strikes’ because of 
‘hard times’ will be remembered only as an ugly 
vision of the past. There are other questions, but 
these be the main timbers in the new republic 
which enlightened organized labor will secure in 
the near future, by taking control of the government 
the rightful prerogative of tho majority.” 


JOHN SEITZ, 


Union Labor Candidate for Governor of Ohio. 


‘‘What is now needed is to abolish the necessity 
for the unnatural use for money, by the abolition of 
the debt and credit system.” 


R. F. Rowen, L. A., 4616, K. or L. 


842 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


‘Labor is the great force by which civilization has 
been evolved from savagery and barbarism. Labor 
is the power which has created wealth. Labor is the 
giant which has sent the world forward and upward 
in its course. All history gives proof of this. As 
we look backward over the past and view the ruins 
of the nations that have been and are no more, and 
as we turn and look upon the grandeur, magnifi- 
cence and wealth of the nations which are in exist- 
ence now, and then ask the chronicler of the world’s 
annals, ‘by what power and force came all this?’ 
the answer shall be, ‘by labor, the great creative 
power which is God’s greatest attribute, and which, 
when exercised by man,makes him akin to God.’ 
While this has been demonstrated among all nations, 
its grandest exemplifications has been given in our 
own land. Four centuries of time have backward 
rolled since Columbus first saw the shores of the 
‘New World.’ When its discovery was made known 
the adventurous spirit of the European nations sent 
men forth to search the Western hemisphere for 
new houses and better fortunes. Almost a century 
was consumed in gaining a foothold upon the soil 
on the Northern portion of the continent. At last, 
however, the indomitable spirit of the English, 
French, German and Dutch settlers founded colon- 
ies, which lived and prospered, and in an apparent: 
ly unlimited wilderness.” — 


Hon. Grorce L. WELLINGTON. 


‘OdVaO0I0O NI DNININ 


= EW — 
\es = 


A 


— 


Bux 





; 
Any 
ty? 
eu 


as rs - 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 345 


“The object of the noble order of the Knights of 
Labor is to educate a man to his own best interest, 
and by-the association of ideas and proper compar- 
ison of things and events, and by bringing famil- 
iar subjects under debate, that it will-set a man 
thinking for himself, and bring his latent faculties 
into play, and in a very short time surprise him- 
seli;” 

A True Knyiaar, 


« There are two great evils that are afflicting hu- 
manity to-day as it has not been plagued in all the 
ages bygone. One is afalse money system (and its 
correlatives), a system which, in its operation, is a 
crime against the right of man. The other is a le- 
galized liquor traffic. These two giants in wicked- 
ness, monsters in iniquity, are endangering, as it 
never has been before, the Christian civilization of 
the nineteenth century. 

«The substitution of full legal tender paper mon- 
ey, in volume sufficient for all purposes—is the 
remedy so far as the money question is concerned. 

“We have over one hundred and twenty-five thous- 
and miles of railroad, costing about two thousand 
million dollars. 

“The monopolies of transportation have also a 
land gift, munificent as an empire—as large as nine 
states like Ohio. 

«The telegraph, costing twenty million dollars, is 
watered up to eighty million dollars. 


346 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Ninety bushels of wheat and one hundred and 
sixty-five bushels of corn, per capita, to each wage- 
worker; fifteen per cent above an average of pota- 
toes, and eighteen per cent above an average hay 
crop; the best wool crop in ten years, less sickness 
than in any year for twenty—and at the end of it 
two million workers out of employment and desti- 
tute to a degree unprecedented in the past. 

America! the egis of liberty: the beacon light of 
hope. Land of the free church; land of the free 
school; land of the free man. The divinely guided 
Magi came from the East to worship in the man- 
ger, the Omniarch of the world. His star moved 
west until it bathed in the silver waters of the ocean 
of setting sun. Then its burning corruscations 
shone back upon the track where man had taken 
his weary march, and the glory of that double shin- 
ing made brighter than halo—America. 


Hon. JEessz HARPER. 


The ennobling pursuit of agriculture, forming as 
it does the very basis of our national prosperity, 
should have every fostering care thrown around it, 
lying legitimately within the domain of legislation. 

Toward the railroad and manufacturing corpora- 
tions, as such, I have no feeling of hostility, but be- 
lieve that the states, and national government, if 
necessary, should place wholsome checks upon their 
power, to the end, that the producing classes may 
not be burdened and oppressed, and that the law 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 347 


should be enforced against such corporations the 
same as against individuals. 

<<] believe we should maintain the dignity of la- 
bor, by giving it its just reward, and inasmuch as 
the wealth and capital of the world are the creatures 
of labor, the latter should receive the higher con- 
sideration at our hands, and the laborer be permit- 
ted to enjoy fully the fruits of his labor.” 


Hon. O. W. Barnarp. 


‘¢ That labor demands is such legislation as_ will 
conform strictly to the principles laid down in the 
Declaration of Independence. Make it possible 
for the industrially inclined to decently exist, edu- | 
cate their children and reduce crime to a minimum.” 


H. E. Baupwry. 


‘Wealth and labor bear the same relation to each 
other that exists between the mill-wheel and the 
water in the dam; the stream in the boiler and the 
engine, They are the complements of each other and 
wealth has no right to treat labor with contempt.” 


AuFRED Taytor, Ep. ALABAMA SENTINEL. 


_ ‘Labor demands but one reform-——Emancipation.” 
W. C. Owen, L, A., 8133, K. or L. 


‘‘The bonded indebtedness of the nation, the na- 
tional banking system, the convict labor, Chinese 
and foreign pauper labor, transportation—both of 


348 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


freight and news—and the great land question, are - 
among the many questions now before the people.” 


N. M. Lavin, M.W., L. A., 4001, K. or L. 


‘One of the measures required is a change in oul 
mode of taxation, to the end that the burdens be 
taken off of labor, and that capital pay its just 


share.” 
O.;-B>Bantron, L.A. 1917, K.-on dy. 


‘‘As long as there is one living being on the face 
of the globe to be benefited through use or con- 
sumption of natural or artificial products, resources, 
or elements, there can be no over-production.” 


C.-T, Parker, L A., 2514, K. ‘or L. 


« The strikes cannot last long, and the radical 
question of labor is yet to be settled. It will be 
settled by the principles of right and justice. There 
is no monopoly in truth and love.” 


Rev. Dr. Tomas. 


‘¢The stars and stripes will afford all the protect- 
ion we may need, and is the only flag that should 
be allowed on American soil. Under it let labor 
assemble and march on to victory. There are hun- 
dreds of thousands of people who are in sympathy 
with legitimately organized labor, and if we will 
keep radicals in the rear, our success will soon 
be assured.. Everywhere organized labor, free 
from red flags and radicals, makes a stand for their 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 3849 


rights as against oppression and monopoly, wonder- 
_ ful progress has been made. 

“There is but one way to deal with men who march 
through the streets of any city in this country 
with any other than the American flag, that is to 
shoot them on the spot. If the stars and stripes are 

‘not good enough for them to march under, they are 
not good enough to be tolerated in America. 

‘Our fight is not fora class, but for all. The small 
business man, the farmer, the mechanic and small 
capitalist, is equally interested with us.” 


Grorce W. Puriupro, 3 
eA O45 9 oral: 


“The only way for the great body of producers to 
secure laws favorable to themselves, is to send their 
own men to the law making bodies, who will not be 
bound by party obligations that are antagonistic to 
their interests.” 

O. J. Surron, L. A:, 55381, K. or L. 


‘As the wrongs of which the laboring man com- 
plains have come through legislation, the remedy 
must also come through legislation. Organization 
is doing a great work in educating the working 
classes in the principles of political economy. 

‘¢Prison labor should not be brought in conflict 
with free labor. The present system is a pernicious 
one, because it brings the labor of our convicts in 
competition with the honest artisan, and has a ten- 


850 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


dency to lower his wages. In my opinion, the con- 
victs should be placed at work on our roads under 
the supervision of the state. And magnificent high- 
ways, something after the manner of the celebrated 
Appian Way, should be constructed by this labor. 
In this manner the convict can be kept at work 
without interfering with honest labor.” 


W.-H Rope, G.-A., 9197, Ke orb: 


‘‘Those who have been intrusted with the power 
to enaet the laws, as well as those who have been 
intrusted with the execution of these laws, have pan- 
dered to the influence of money and power, instead 
of the will of the people, until they have gone be- 
yond the danger line. | 


‘‘Arbitration is the best method for the adjustment 
of all differences between capital and labor, or be- 
tween individuals.” | 

J.D. Harpy, L. A., 9806, K. or L. 


‘‘Money performs precisely the same duty to a na- 
tion that the blood does to the human body. To 
have a healthy body there must be the necessary 
amount of blood, and it must be good and must 
circulate to the extremities of the body. If this be 
not the case, the body cannot be in good health; 
but if all of the blood flows to the head, apoplexy 
and death ensue.” 


W. W. Jonzs, L. A.,9189, K. or L. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 351 


‘‘The history and experience of the past make it 
apparent to every intelligent and thoughtful mind 
that strikes and lockouts are false agencies and bru- 
tal resorts for the adjustment of the disputes and 
- controversies arising between employing capital and 
employed labor. They have become evils of the 
gravest magnitude, not only to those immediately 
concerned in them but also to general society, be- 
ing fruitful sources of public disturbances, riot, and 
bloodshed. Sad illustrations of this truth are now 
being witnessed in certain of our large cities, and 
in several of the mining and manufacturing cen- 
ters of the country. These industrial conflicts gen- 
erally involve waste of capital on the one hand and 
impoverishment of labor on the other. They endan- | 
ger bitter feelings of prejudice and enmity, and en- 
kindle the destructive passions of hate and revenge, 
bearing in their train the curses of widespread mis- 
ery and wretchedness, They are contrary to the true 
spirit of American institutions, and violate every 
principle of human justice and of Christian charity. 

“Apart and in conflict capital and labor become 
agents of evil, while united they create blessings of 
plenty and prosperity, and enable a man to utilize 
and enjoy the bounteous resources of nature intend- 
ed for his use and happiness by the Almighty. 

‘¢Capital represents the accumulated savings of 
past labor, while ‘labor is the most sacred part of 
capital.’ Each has its representative duties and ob- 
ligations toward the other. Capital is entitled to 


352 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


fair and just remuneration for its risks and its use, 
and must have security and protection, while labor 
on the other hand, is as fully and as justly entitled 
to reward for its toil and its sacrifices. Each is en- 
titled to its equitable share, and there is no law, 
either human or divine, to justify the one impover- 
ishing and crushing the other.” 
ComMiITTEE oF Miners AND OPERATORS, 

National Federation of Minersand Mine Laborers. 


‘(Labor is the honorable thing anong men. There 
is not a neatly graded lawn, a pretty garden ora 
well trained tree that does not tell of it. It builds 
magnificent cities, navies, bridges, rivers, lays the 
railroad track, and drives tbe flying locomotive; 
whenever a steamer plows the waves or a canal 
bears the nation’s inland wealth; wherever the 
corn, cotton or wheat fields wave and the mill 
wheel turns, there labor is the conqueror and the > 
king. The newspaper, wherever it spreads its 
wings, bears the impress of toiling hands. 

‘Should not the laborer be well housed? Should 
he not have the best wife, and the prettiest chil- 
dren in the world? Should not the man who _pro- 
duces all we eat and clothes the nation be honest? 
To us there is more true poetry about the laborer’s 
life and lot than in any other condition under heav- 
en. It matters not in what calling a man labors, 
or toils, if he toils manfully, honestly and content- 
edly. The little tin pail is a badge of nobility.” 

Wiitram H. Davipson. 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 353 


‘¢The present monetary system of the United 
States is a stupendous obstacle in the way of edu- 
cational advancement; the most potent engine of 
demoralization, and fruitful source of evil, now ex- 
tant; doing more to destroy patriotism and venera- 
tion. for law, than all other influences combined; 
leading to peculation, speculation and extortion 
upon the one hand, and degradation and _ brutaliza- 


tion upon the other.” 
R. C. McoBraru. 


‘¢ As long as individuals are allowed to monopo- 
lize the industries of this nation, so long the peo- 
ple must live in poverty. They will render it’ im- 
possible for the remainder of the people to prosper. 
If the remainder of the people work harder and in- 
crease more, the monopolists will increase their 
demands. 

‘«The monopolists have it in their power to regu- 
late the amount the people may retain, and all they 
will allow them to retain, whether they produce 
much or little, will be just enough to live on and 
keep producing, and under such circumstances it is 
idle for the people to think of bettering their con- 
dition. We must legislate monopolists out of exist- 
ence as we have legislated them into existence.” 


D. W. Smrra, L. A., 3215, K. or L. 
‘«‘The tramp, convict, anarchist and such charac- 


ters are legitimate productions of society. If we 
would eliminate them, we must first purge society 


354 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


of these abnormal conditions giving birth to them, 
by adopting what the doctors call a constitutional 
treatment; purifying the blood and whole system, 
for these characters have had little to do with their 
own formation. When we locate the cause of these 
abnormal productions, we find it to be what the 
phrenologist calls acquisitiveness, or the love of 
property, abnormally developed.” 


J.J. Woopatt, AGRICULTURAL WHEEL. 


«If the laboring masses would conform strictly 
to the preamble and declaration of principles of the 
Knights of Labor, and use every effort to have them 
carried out to the letter, their God given rights 
would be restored to a suffering people. with the 
grandest government on earth to protect them.” 


N. B. Sracg, L: A., 5009. K. or L. 


‘‘The eight-hour law should not be overlooked. 
The nation, by enactment, says it’s right. Why do 
‘not states follow the decree? Men are not slaves, 
vassals, or menials, crouching under a kingly pow- 
er, but freeman who dare assert their rights. This 
world’s a stage and we its actors, and in its daily 
battle, eight hours for rest, eight hours for work, 
and eight hours for recreation and improvement.” 


Hon. Winiiam Baker. 


‘Organization, agitation, co-operation and edu- 
cation are the four mighty auxiliaries for raising the 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. - 355 . 


moral, mental and material status of the ene 
millions.” 
JAMES MITCHELL, 
Ed. Fort Wayne Dispatch. 

‘<The farmers want protection—government pro- 
tection from the cormorants that are eating up their 
substance. And while they need protection badly, 
they will not get it without some kind of revolution 
shall first obtain among them. Farmers should re- 
member that our government has, in a measure, 
ceased to be a government of the people, and in 
lieu of it we have a government of aristocratic 
wealth. This aristocracy is now the governing pow- 
er in both state and nation. Aristocracy says, ‘Mon- 
ey makes the mare go,’ and with it they manipulate 
elections, legislatures and the administration of the 
laws. 

‘¢ Yes, the farmers want relief from the govern- 
ment, but they will not get it. No, never, unless 
they shall organize purposely to accomplish it.” 

Hon. A. J. STREETER. 

‘‘When at last, through the devotion of the ‘ boys 
in blue,’ and their fidelity to the principles of eter- 
nal justice, the Great God of Battles crowned them 
victors, peace returned to our beautiful land, these 
sad and terrible scenes ceased, and we, as a nation, 
commenced to build up what cruel war had laid 
desolate. 

“ Since that time, monopolies of every kind and 
_ in every conceivable shape, have been arising on 


356 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


every hand, until we find the practical ‘land of the 
free and the home of the brave,’ practically monop- 
oly ridden. We have land monopolies, railroad 
monopolies, telegraph monopolies, telephone mon- 


opolies, coal monopolies, iron BLTBOBOHES) oil mon- 


opolies, and soon, ad infinitum. 

‘¢In the organization of the Knights of Labor, 
the wage-workers of this country are organizing 
for the common defense. Our homes, our liberties, 
our very lives are jeopardized under the present in- 
dustrial system. Mammon sits enthroned to-day in 
the temple, where the common people thought the 
goddess of Liberty was reigning queen. He rules 
with an ironrod. At his beck our judges, created by 
his power, decide momentous questions, but always 
in accordance with his wish; legislatures fawn and 
cringe before him, enacting only such laws as he 
approves; juries frame their verdicts with an eye 
for business principles, and are but the tools of this 
almost almighty power. 

‘“The ‘Chicago Express’ makes a startling dis- 
closure by the publication of a confidential circular 
sent by the celebrated English capitalist, Mr. Haz- 
ard, to his American attorneys in 1862, from which 
I extract the following: 

‘< <Slavery is likely to be abolished by the new 
power, and chattel slavery be destroyed. This, I and 
my European friends are in favor of, for slavery is 


but the owning of labor, and carries with it a duty 
to care for the laborer: while the European plaa 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 857% 


led on by England is caprran conTROL OF LABOR by 
controlling wages and the price of property. This 
can be done by controlling the money. The great 
debt that capitalists will see to it ismade out of the 
war must be used as the means to control the vol- 
ume of the money. To accomplish this the bonds 
must be used as the banking basis. We are now 
waiting to get the secretary of the treasury to make 
this recommendation to congress. It will not do to 
let the greenback, as it is called, circulate as money 
any length of time, for we cannot control them. 
But we can control the bonds, and through them 
the bank issues.’ 

‘¢ While one kind of monopoly was being crushed 
in the South, its twin brother in the North, taking 
advantage of the helplessness of the government, 
dictated its financial policy. The grip which it 
secured on the government at that time, has never 
been released. If the transactions of the bankers of 
this country with those whom the people believed 
had the interests of the people at heart could be 
unveiled, what an educating revelation that would 
be. Were that revelation made, we might, at least, 
measure the patriotism of the vampires who control 
the industries of the nation to-day.” 


A. A. Beaton, 8. M. W., D. A., 86, K. or L. 


358 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 


VIEWS OF DAVID ROSS—THE MAGNITUDE OF THE LABOR 
PROBLEM—OUT OF AGITATION COME MANY BENEFITS 
—-EDUCATION IS REQUIRED FOR ADVANCEMENT—THE 
MASSES ARE THINKING-——-REFORM PARTIES—— UNION 
LABOR PARTY IN THE VAN—ORGANIZATION THE 
WATCHWORD —HON. J. W. BREIDENTHAL——BRIGHT 
PROSPECTS WEST, NORTH, SOUTH AND EAST——LABOR 
IN POLITICS—-WITH ORGANIZATION AND COMMON PUR- 
POSE SUCCESS IS CERTAIN— A PLATFORM BROAD 
ENOUGH FOR ALL IS NEEDED——HON. HENRY SMITH— 
FUTURE OF THE WORKINGMAN—CONCLUSION. 


Tue signs of the times indicate that labor is gath- 
ering its vast strength to take a long step of ad- 
vancement. The position and demands of the work- 
ingman is the giant with which coming statesmen 
must grapple and make terms of peace. ‘One is 
justified in asserting,” says David Ross, ‘that no 
question of late years has monopolized a larger 
share of public thought and attention than that cov- 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 359 


ered by the term ‘labor.’ Nor can the magnitude of 
the task of adjusting equitably the unnatural rela- 
tions existing between capital and labor be exagger- 
ated, and it deservedly stands at the front demand- 
ing above all others, a peaceable and speedy solu- 
tion. 

‘<A question of such vast interest, involving the 
welfare of this republic, affecting directly the inter- 
ests of those upon whom all forms of prosperity de- 
pend, is worthy of being first considered by that 
large and increasing class, who with brain and brawn 
toil ceaselessly, with but one benevolent object in 
view, the amelioration of industrial conditions. Out 
of this universal agitation of a great theme has come 
many benefits to the workers. Disagreeable in some 
respects, as the present order of affairs is to many © 
_ of us, we can value the importance of the progress 
made, by comparison with past systems and past 
methods. : 

«The gloomy pictures drawn in the perverted im- 
agination of pessimistic writers cannot affect the con- 
clusions of the candid mind, that the condition of the 
working people, with many of their plans frustrat- 
ed, many objects unattained, and many grievances of 
which they complain, is tending to still greater im- 
provement, with present prospects indicative of 
continued betterment. 

_ Weare not surprised at the terrible struggle 
that, in the past, has taken place between capital 
and labor, when the causes are considered that pro- 


~~ 


360 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


duced it. Capital, ever greedy to add to its gains, in 
many instances every opportunity seized to express its » 
contempt for the laborer, denying the sacred right 
of the workmen to combine for their own protection. 
Capital ever powerful, and having every advantage, 
has been unscrupulously employed in making man- 
hood merchantable, by offering tempting sums that 
men, elected to make laws and administer Justice, 
might become blind to the diabolical nature of their 
designs, to still further rob and oppress those at 
their mercy, Itis no wonder that men at times 
have been goaded to desperation, and when living 
under a burning sense of their merciless treatment, 
were prompted in the commission of acts, which 
only the circumstances of the time could suggest 
and justify. 

«The demands of the working people have not 
been of themselves so unjust as their often unfair 
and impractical methods of securing them. Many 
painful conflicts of the past, between capital on the 
one side and labor on the other, have had their ori- 
gin in a stupid misunderstanding of the differences 
existing between them. In the absence of a proper 
knowledge of the best methods of treating such 
points of difference, when they did present them- 
selves, and in almost absolute ignorance of each 
other’s real position, all these and other causes com- 
bined to disarrange the relations, intensify the ha- 
tred, and widen the breach between their respective 
interests. 


~ 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 361 


“The great lessons learned at a prodigious cost 
of suffering and unprofitable experience, has wrought 
a marvelous change in the positions of these inter- 
ests towards one another. Reason permits us to 
indulge the hope, that one portion of a common 
brotherhood will not forever be pitted against the 
other. The light of experience enables us to realize 
the folly of continuing an antagonism, the effect of 
which is to stifle the progressive .spirit, and result 
more or less injuriously to interests which a just 
economic system would consider mutual and de- 
pendent upon each other. 

‘‘One of the most gratifying signs of the times 
is the reasonable hope of an early removal of many 
of the prolific sources of division, through the rapid 
increase of intelligence among the industrial classes, 
which of itself, while it may not mean absolute har- 
mony in all things between the consolidated forces 
of labor and capital, points unmistakably to a clear- 
er and fuller recognition of the rights of those whose 
lot it is to toil, by those whose fortune it is to fur- 
nish employment. This is certainly a great stride 
in the direction of future triumphs. That the minds 
of working people are being educated and disci- 
plined by the discussion of this question, none who 
are familiar with them will deny. No one with 
ordinary powers of observation, who mingles with 
working people, irrespective of the occupation in 
which they are engaged, can fail to be impressed 


with the wonderful awakening of intelligence, 
a4, sin 


362 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


which recent agitations in the sphere of labor have 
produced. 

‘««The masses are beginning to think, study and 
reflect for themselves. They cannot longer remain 
satisfied with the concessions won for them through 
the exertions of their predecessors. They feel the 
duty of the hour is to think, act, and give the world 
the benefit of their thought and action, and thus ac- 
celerate their evolution from a degrading stage of 
mere wage slavery to one of profit-sharing, in 
which: all are recognized as equals, or better 
still, to a universal system of co-operative produc- 
tion.” 

The constant discussion of such subjects as labor, 
finance, transportation, etc., has awakened univer- 
sal interest. There is no mistaking the object and 
aims of the thousands of organizations throughout 
the land, nor can it be said that the men at the 
heads of the various reform political parties are af- 
flicted with delusions. 

The most conservative elements of the reform 
movement are represented by the Typographical 
Union, Trades Unions, Grange, Patrons of Hus- 
bandry, Knights of Labor, National Greenback La- 
bor party, Prohibition party, Anti-Monopoly party, 
Knights of Industry, Grand Agricultural Wheel, 
National Homesteaders of America, Progressive 
party, Industrial League, Plow, Commoners, Amer- 
ican Society to Promote Justice, Woman’s Christian 
Temperance Union, Woman Suffrage Association, 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 363 


The Industrial Union, American General Reform 
party, United Labor party, Union Labor party, 
Order of American Patriots and Anti-Poverty So- 
ciety. : 

Of these, the Union Labor party is rapidly gain- 
ing strength, and leads the van. A _ liberal plat- 
form was adopted at a general convention held at 
Cincinnati, February 22, 1887, which has been fa- 
vorably received by nearly all of the other parties. 
The principal planks of their platform are a gradu- 
ated land and income tax, governmental control of 
transportation and means of communication, pay- 
ment of the national debt, the non-issue of bonds, 
senators to be elective by a direct vote of the peo- 
ple, and universal suffrage. 

Hon. J. W. Breidenthal, in commenting upon 
the future of the labor movement in the West, 
writes that «(The prospects are flattering. The peo- 
ple are reading for themselves; they are reading 
labor papers; they are doing more quiet thinking 
than for many years; and as a result, the Labor 
party is having a wonderful growth. County 
tickets are being placed in the field this year, and 
in many localities, even this early in the campaign, 
‘the prospects for success are good. By 1888, the 
party will be well organized throughout the West, 
_ and will undoubtedly have a full ticket in the field. 
The men who are joining our ranks know why they 
do so, and can generally give well defined reasons 
in support of their views.” 


~~ 


364 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Organization is the watchword throughout the 
middle and western states, and there is a great ef- 
fort being made to consolidate the outlying factions 
into a party of national strength. In New Eng- 
land and the Eastern states, the political phase of 
labor is attracting the attention of statesmen and 
politicia 1s, and has-already been recognized as a 
powerful element, which will have much to do with 
future politics. As in the West, the labor move- 
ment is rapidly organizing, and has made great pro- 
gress in undermining the old political parties, de- 
spite of ce mnsiderable internal dissension. 

The campaign at hand will present} undoubtedly, 
a national labor ticket, and its strength at the polls 
will be the fruit of organization. Mr. Powderly, 
who is in a position to know, asserts that the pros- 
pects of the workingman were never better, and 
confidently predicts an era of political prosperity 
for labor. The signs of the times unmistakably 
point to the fact, that organization upon a thought- 
ful and intelligent basis is gaining ground. Educa- 
tion upon the living issues of the day, will enable 
the cause of the workingman to be presented as a 
solid phalanx, and with the ballot, from which there 
is no appeal, legislate all grievances into oblivion. 

‘‘The agitation now so prevalent,” writes G. R. 
Williams, ‘‘strongly indicates the formation of the 
great people’s party, which is labor’s only salvation. 
The laboring man must be true to himself, and see 
that the now impending struggle does not waste 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 365 


itself in dust. Labor must unite with other organ- 
izations, as the Wheels, Greenbackers; Farmers’ Al- 
liance, Grangers, etc. , all of whose interests are iden- 
tical, and carry their common grievances to the bal- 
lot box, America’s point of final settlement, where 
relief to their depressed condition can alone be 
found. Those who are laboring for the uplifting 
of the workingman’s condition see this necessity, 
and are urging labor and producers to cast minor 
issues into the back ground, and to arise in a united 
mass to speak at the polls, which is the only true 
American mode of settling American questions. 
Such a consolidation is shadowed in the daily 
prints. . 

The officers and leaders of the Knights of Labor, 
the representative organization of the workingman, 
have persistently urged moderation and have sought 
to quell violent measures. They condemn the vir- 
ulent features of anarchy and rabid socialism, and 
counsel the more effective forces of education and 
intelligent organization. In these forces exist the 
true sources of future success. 

The decisive action of their convention at Minne- 
apolis, October, 1887, in declaring against anar- 
chists and the extremists of socialism, shows a de- 
termined effort in the right direction,which has met 
with general approval. 

Beyond question, the intelligent workingman 
sees labor’s best condition obtainable through the 
medium of the ballot, and the tendency of his 


366 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


course has turned to that path. Hon. Henry Smith 
writes on this truth as follows: ‘A careful 
look over the field of organized labor, reveals the 
fact that with the Knights of Labor all workers 
- whether professional, mechanical, agricultural, or 
the laborer who swings the pick or shovel, can and 
do meet on one common level for the advancement 
of humanity, by mutual education on all questions 
affecting the emancipation of the wealth producers 
from the monopolist, speculator and usurer. 

“« The organization of skilled mechanics, or crafts, 
in unions, does not fully meet the requirements of 
the present time, because their field of operation is 
limited. The farmer and laborer cannot become a 
member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi- 
neers, or Amalgamated Iron and Steel Workers, 
and the result is, the great majority of the wealth 
producers cannot aid them or have much sympathy 
for them, in any contest in which the several craft 
unions may be engaged. If labor is ever to enjoy 
the fruits of its efforts, it must throw aside the J-am- 
better-than-thou system, and come together in one 
fold ona platform of principles broad enough to take 
all. At present, the best offered is the platform of 
the Knights of Labor, which is in harmony with 
the American system of government and justice. 

‘Strikes as now carried on, are but a feeble and 
momentary make-shift of no lasting benefit to those 
engaged in them. There is only one way of inau- 
gurating a strike, the benefits of which, with no 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 369 


drawback, will accrue to all labor, and that is at the 
ballot box. Experience has shown that a strike en- 
tered into at the polls by the wealth producers, has 
always sent consternation and confusion into the 
ranks of the labor oppressors. It cuts deep, awakens 
the guilty consciences and causes gnashing of teeth. 
Therefore, let labor lay aside all differences, join 
heart and hand, enter into a strike at the ballot box 
for justice and humanity, and let that strike never 
be declared off.” - 

Many have predicted the downfall of the vigorous 
plea that labor has advanced for a better condition, 
as expressed in the varied forms of its organization, 
but the future will tell a different story. What the 
coming years have in store for the workingman is yet 
to be known, yet the signs of to-day do not augur 
ill. In reply to a query as to what the future of the 

workingman will be, G. W. Johnson! writes: 

‘¢’Phe future is a mirror, and to forecast events is 
to but criticise its reflections. It is continually be- 
_ fore us, opaque, but beaming with what past ex- 
periences have hinted is in store for us, and _ re- 
vealing in the present only reflections of sad 
experience—this is the continued round of all 
time. | 

‘‘The idea of considering, then, what may be 
expected as a future for the workingman, carries 
with it a long train of past events and present 


1 L. A., 7020, K. of L. 


370 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


conduct, from which reasonably safe conclusions may 
be drawn. . | 

“The problem is not a new one; neither is it con- 
fined to the present or succeeding generations mere- 
ly, but bears important relations to all future pro- — 
gress. It is in fact the great corner stone of all 
civilization and being. Nothing is produced without 
labor, and nothing labors save it prey upon produc- 
tion. No station is without labor, neither exists 
any labor without station. Thus woven so distinct- 
ly and finely in all things, the most subtle and re- 
fined distinctions become necessary to define its po- 
sition and just relations. This is the problem as it 
lays before the people. 

‘Great men have arisen at different times who 
have discussed well and, in many instances, proper- 
ly, this question; but none, to the present, but the 
scientific mind seemed scarcely even temporarily 
concerned about it. The accumulated force, how- 
ever, of these thoughts and discussions seem to have 
broken into a storm—a hurricane fortoday. Asa 
mighty vessel kept in its proper course by a master 
mind through the storm, cleared of rocks, bars and 
troughs of the sea,so are the workingmen of to-day. 
They have the master minds of ages; the storm is 
raging, they themselves are the vessel and with 
what degree of safety they will reach their desired 
haven depends upon their conduct. Time alone best 
can tell. Demosthenes, Cicero, Savonarola, Pitt, 
Fox, Sheridan, Chatham, Washington, Webster, 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. Sock 


Lincoln, Jefferson, Jackson, Clay, Calhoun and a 
host of other orators and political economists of all 
time, from Bible times inclusive, to the present, 
have never ceased to warn the nation against oppres- 
sion of labor. There have been under these teachings, 
at various times, spasmodic attempts to right labor’s. 
wrongs. But, unfortunately, the participating work- 
ing people have been too ignorant, too filled with 
prejudice, too overcome with unnatural awe at ac- 
cumulation, to maintain themselves in their jus- 
tice. | 

‘To-day a vastly different aspect greets even the 
casual observer. Trades unions and councils with 
their fraternity and mutual assistance among their 
fellow tradesmen have sprung rapidly up, and for 
their time filled a great need. But all the relief 
they could ever expect seemed to be nearly alto- 
gether of a temporary nature. They were, and are 
now, too circumscribed in action. They stood well 
as abutments to a bridge which is to cross the 
chasm. They served well for their time. What 
was needed when the trades union idea first sprang 
up was unity and fraternity—just what is needed to- 
day, only needed on a broader scale than trades 
unionism admits. They seemed to be well calcu- 
lated to open the gate which led into a broader field. 
Uriah Stephens came in atthe proper time to com- 
plete the work started, by teaching his lesson that 
not only should men of a certain trade join a certain 


S72 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


organization which kept the harmony of that trade 
to the exclusion of all other trades, but that all 
should join together and be united as one. This 
met a greater exigency, and as the fruit of it we have 
the noble order of the Knights of Labor. 

‘(In this connection strikes should be mentioned. 
Like chaff they show which way the wind is blow- 
ing. Destructive and as liable to abuse as they are, 
still they are not without their uses. As the blood- 
iest and most warlike times have marked the times 
of greatest progress in civilization, so the strikes of 
to-day are simply marking the remarkable progress 
toward industrial liberty and social equality. The 
Knights of Labor, however, by their education of 
members on the subject, are making rapid strides 
toward the obliteration of the strike as a barbarism 
of the past. Political economy in general, through 
them, is fast becoming a part of every workingman. 
Their papers and assembly discussions are doing 
much toward popularizing that study among them. 
In fact, the whole aim of their organization is in 
that direction. 

‘There are present in this, asin all other similar 
movements, those whose hot-headed ideas produce 
much trouble, and in a movement composed so en- 
tirely of working people, uneducated and ignorant, 
I wonder that thefe is not more of them. Even ~ 
they are not without use. The strong, conservative 
men who lead in any movement would be powerless 
indeed were there not hotheads and ‘anarchists’ 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 37a 


enough to stimulate strife, and force general agita- 
tion on their subjects. Their presence seem to be 
necessary to prove the presence of gold. They are 
required to give a certain strength otherwise unat- 
tainable. Ideas, like sailors, would amount to but 
little encountered they no storms, But too much 
storm swamps all. Hence too much can scarce- 
ly be done to keep the power of hotheads lim- 
ited. 

“In short, the situation reveals every prerequi- 
site necessary for a change; all tends to show that 
great principles are bound to be settled; great wrongs 
to the working people must be righted. Wise men 
are at the helm. The sturdy sons of toil are fast 
educating themselves to the justice of their de- 
mands. 

«They are beginning to see, and vast num- 
bers are every day awakening to the fact that the 
land, the government, and the people are fast drift- 
ing into the hands of the few. The enterprise, the 
industry, the resources, the government, all pass- 
ing rapidly into the hands of avaricious and 
all-grasping monopolists, who would soon be 
able to bind the father in the workshop or 
mine, the mother in the home, the child in 
the cradle, to eternal ignorance and_ ceaseless 
toil. | 

‘«<In these facts lie the primal elements of a suc- 
cessful revolution. Itis already on its wings, and 





















po 88 the old. saw runs, | 
Bre ue Rs "ope: patience and perseverance will certain 


ks find their reward,” ee 



































THE VOICE OF LABOR. 875 


, CHAPTER XXV. 


THE FARMERS’ ALLIANCE. 


EARLY STRUGGLES OF THE FARMERS’ ALLIANCE — ITS 
RULES — ITS PROGRESS — ADVANTAGES OF CO-OPER- 
ATION —— THE TEXAS CHARTER — THE NATIONAL AL- 
LIANCE — PREAMBLE — EDUCATION FUNDAMENTAL 
TO GOOD GOVERNMENT — BUSINESS MATTERS —- POL- 
ITICAL MATTERS — GENERAL REMARKS -— WOMEN OF 
THE ALLIANCE. 


Suppiy is always regulated by the demand, and 
it is a fact that in the history of ages long past, 
when tyranny and oppression prevailed and honest 
men were groaning beneath the yoke and earnest- 
ly desiring a better state of affairs for the general 
welfare of humanity, that commensurate with the 
necessities and needs has come the redress for 
those wrongs arising out of the evil itself. 

The first settlers in Texas had endured much at 
the hands of the wealthy cattle kings who were op- 
posed to the settlement of the country, and acts of 
outrage had often been perpetrated upon those ear- 
ly settlers; their cattle had often been driven off by 
the minions of those wealthy rangers, and other 


876 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


stock taken from them without remuneration, ard 
as the direct result of these outrages came the Far- 
mers’ Alliance, which was organized in 1875, in the 
county of Lampasas, Texas. These outrages com- 
pelled the common farmers of moderate means to 
unite and confer with each other as to some course 
to be adopted for self-protection; and as the result 
of this conference came the Farmers’ Alliance, 
which organized, as it were, by magic. Its growth 
was as wonderful and surprising as its origin. In 
three years, with very little effort, it had permeated 
the four contiguous outlying counties. But like 
other new organizations, it was destined to receive 
a blow, as circumstances and conflicting interests 
conspired to merge this alliance into politics which 
became partisan in its interests, causing divisions; 
and, as a ‘Shouse divided against itself cannot 
stand,” so this organization was brought to naught. 
But inthe year 1879, one W. Baygett, reorganized 
an Alliance in Texas, at Poolville in Parker County, 
upon the foundation stone of the old by-laws and 
constitution. 

Some of the names of these brave and undaunt- 
ed men, whose frontier life had eminently fitted 
them to engage in so noble a work, were J. N. Sul- 
livan, Jeff. Womack, J. N. Montgomery, G. W. 
McKibbins, I. T. Reeves, and many other self-sacri- 
ficing men,who, inspired by right and proper princi- 
ples, having the prosperity of the producing classes 
uppermost in their minds, and a sincere desire to 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. SEC 


benefit the world in general, have by their unwear- 
ied exertions rendered avaluable service to all who 
were willing to avail themselves of the advantages 
accruing from the Alliance. 

For many years past the more systematic and ad- 
vanced of the farming communities have sought to 
establish an agricultural society of their own, and 
maintain it upon a scientific principle and _ basis. 
They had failed, however, in consequence of a lack 
of enterprise, and the ignorance, superstition and 
prejudice still remaining in the minds of the more 
illiterate portion of the yeomanry of the country 
whose frontier life was largely responsible for their 
opposition to any innovation upon the process es- 
tablished and adhered to by the fossilized represen- 
tatives of the old and nearly obsolete customs of a 
dogmatic theory. 

- But under the control and guidance of self-sacri- 
ficing and generous individuals who dare do anything 
that may become a man, who dared even to do 
right regardless of the frowns of large and iufluen- 
tial monopolies, this Alliance organized at Pool- 
ville, July 29, 1879, which was destined — lke the 
stone cut from the mountain by power divine — be- 
cause of its principles of right embodied, to roll on 
and fill the earth. It was at once constituted in its 
incipiency a non-political and non-partisan brother- 
hood, whose object was the greatest good to the 
horny-handed sons of toil who had borne the bur- 
den and heat of the day. 


878 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Tweive branch or sub-alliances were soon estab- 
lished in various places during 1879, and being es- 
tablished upon such a principle as love and charity 
for all, with malice or enmity to none, its founders 
confidently looked forward to ultimate prosperity and 
success; and to-day in this ‘‘bounteous birth-land 
of the free,” the songster and the philosopher laud, 
in sermon and in song, the virtues of these untiring 
and noble men. 

The principles of right which inspired the foun- 
ders of this National Alliance to earnest and per- 
severing endeavor, should be graven upon the tab- 
lets of enduring memory, and like seed scattered 
upon good ground, find a lodgment, and bring forth 
fruit one hundred fold in every honest heart. 


We embody the following rules of this organiza- 
tion, which must stand approved by every lover of 
humanity: 

1. To labor for the education of the agricultural 
classes, in the science of economical government, 
in a strictly non-partisan spirit. | 

9. To indorse the motto, ‘in things essential, 
unity; and in all things, charity. 

3. To develop a better state, mentally, morally, 
socially, and financially. 


4. To create a better understanding for sustain- 
ing civil officers in maintaining law and order. 


5. To constantly strive to secure entire harmony 





C. W. MACUNE, 
President National Farmers’ Alliance. 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 381 


and good-will among all mankind, and brotherly 
love among ourselves. 


6. To suppress personal, local, sectional and na- 
tional prejudices; all unhealthful rivalry, and all 
selfish ambition. 


7. The brightest jewels which it garners are the 
tears of widows and orphans, and its imperative 
commands are to visit the homes where lacerated 
hearts are bleeding; to assuage the sufferings of a 
brother, or a sister; bury the dead; care for the 
widows, and educate the orphans; to exercise charity 
toward offenders; to construe words and deeds in 
their most favorable light, granting honesty of pur- 
pose, and good intentions to others; and to protect 
the principles of the Alliance unto death. 


Its laws are reason and equity, its cardinal doc- 
trines inspire purity of thought and life, and its in- 
tentions are ‘‘ Peace on earth and good will to 
men.” 

The Farmers’ Alliance built upon this sure foun- 
dation stone of equal rights to all, embraces all the 
grand fundamental principles of honest government, 
without which no honest government can exist. 
The close relationship of families and the fraternal 
clasping of hands, as a bond of friendship; the tri- 
bal relations of aboriginal inhabitants, were organi- 
zations for self-protection; the various orthodox re- 
ligious denominations associate for mutual benefit, 
both socially and financially. 


382 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


Judging from the success of the organizations to 
_ which we have referred, the Farmers’ Alliance en- 
trenched behind the impregnable palisade and ad- 
amantine bulwarks of eternal right and truth, it 
needed no prophet’s ken, while looking through the 
horoscope of her future as a National Alliance, to — 
predict a prosperous and brilliant career in its 
‘work of faith and labor of love,” which ‘‘suffereth 
long and is kind.” From our little Alliance organ- 
ized at Poolville, it now, in less than ten years, 
numbers hundreds of thousands; and in its ramifi- 
cations has penetrated and permeated the entire 
land from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and frem the 
ice-bound lakes of the north, to the flower-embossed 
banks of the streams of the sun-kissed waters of 
the tropics. 

In its incipiency it was said of this Alliance: 
‘‘Qh! the farmers can do nothing, as the issue is 
between capital and labor.” We do not wish to be 
understood as ignoring capital—it is a necessity, as 
also is labor. They are contingent one upon the 
other. Capital is the result of labor and economy. 
Capital and labor are brothers, and therefore there 
should exist between them friendly relations. 

The Alliance is not antagonistic to the interests 
of any class of honest men, either socially or finan- 
cially. The sentiment emulates the true spirit of 
order which underlies the cardinal principles of jus- 
tice and law, both human and divine. Does the 
purity of human nature find pre-eminence in the 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 383 


piesent age outside of the true spirit of progress in 
organization and advancement? Usefulness is still 
trammeled by passion, which is the outgrowth of 
ignorance and selfishness, prejudice and bigotry, 
superstition and ignorance, which injure society 
and impede progress by introducing discordant ele- 
ments. And under the mild rule of the present high 
order of American civilization, we still have a mor- 
bid condition in society, which, if not as vicious, is 
as odious as that which has characterized the annals 
of the past century. 

To-day the intelligent progressive class recognize, 
and begin to realize, the advantages of hearty co- 
operation. Some have their boards of exchange; 
farmers have their Alliance; dairymen their unions; 
and trade and labor unions meet to discuss and adopt 
measures intended for their mutual protection and 
prosperity. We bid a hearty God-speed to any or- 
ganization intended to diffuse general knowledge, 
enlightening the ignorant, dispelling the gaunt 
shadows of superstition, and taking one more step 
toward the inauguration of that period when on 
those peace-crowned heights men shall beat their 
swords into plow-shares, and their spears into prun- 
ing hooks, and learn war no more. 

The higher mankind rises in the scale of moral 
being, the less will they be inclined to oppress, 
wrong or injure each other. 

Opposition and difficulties to the progress of the 
Alliance proved to be blessings in disguise. The 


384 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


storm and persecution it received at the hands of 


its enemies had only the effect to cause its founders 
to dig deep and lay their foundation upon a rock. 
Like the storm-bent oak, its contact with the dis- 
turbing element only caused it to send its roots 
deeper into the soil, until in the majesty of matu- 
rity it may now bid defiance to every storm, firmly 
anchored in the hearts of the people of America. 
They who went forth weeping over the wrongs per- 
petrated upon the innocent, ‘‘bearing precious 
seed,” have now come with rejoicing, bringing 
their sheaves with them, fully confident of success; 
and knowing the justice ot their cause, came to the 
front and took a bold stand. A meeting was con- 
vened at the court-house in Weatherford, Parker 


County, Texas, July 7, 1881, in response to the fol- 


lowing call: 


PUBLIC MEETING. 


‘The undersigned members of the Farmers’ Al- 
liance desire a meeting of the business men of 
Weathersford, and citizens of the town generally, 
at the court-house in this city at two o’clock p. m. 
to-day, in order to fully investigate the charges of 
lawlessness and other outrages preferred against 
the order. We deny the assertions made by the 
Weatherford ‘Times,’ charging our order with 
improper motives; and as citizens we ask the co-op- 
eration of all good people in a public investigation 
of this matter. We respectfully ask the attendance 


“oe Oe 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 385 


of the sheriff, county attorney and other officers of 
Parker County.” 

The call was signed by B. G. Gilliland, J. N. Fra- 
zier, O. G. Peterson, C. M. Wilcox, T. B: Gil- 
liland, J. W. Caldwell, W. L. Garvin, K. A. 
Patterson, T. C. Ensey, W. T. Culwell, T. N. 
Niblett, E. J. Ensey, J. H. Dover, Andrew 
Dunlap, and 8. O. Daws. 

B. G. Gilliland called the meeting to order, W. 
L. Garvin occupying the chair. Andrew Dunlap, 
by request of the members, stated the purpose for 
which the meeting had been convened, stating 
briefly that it was for the purpose of vindicating 
the justice of their cause; also to show the injus- 
tice of the attack and the malicious falsehood con- 
tained in the charge through the columns of the 
Weatherford ‘«‘Times.” The following resolution 
was then submitted: 

‘‘ResotveD, That we the officers and represen- 
tative members of the Farmers’ Alliance do allege 
that the statements made in the Weatherford 
‘Times’ of June 25, 1881, with regard to the Far- 
mers’ Alliance, are false and malicious. We do 
most emphatically deny that the Alliance as a body 
recognizes mob law, or any thing else that is not 
in strict accordance’ with the laws of our state, from 
which we as a body hold a legal charter, and that 
the order of the Farmers’ Alliance has never sanc- 
tioned or authorized any individual or body of in- 
dividuals to violate the laws of the state at any 


886 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


time or place. And if the editor of the ‘Times,’ 
or any other person, will apprise the Farmers’ Alli- 
ance of the fact that any individual member has 
been guilty of any violation of the laws ofthe land, 
we will pledge ourselves to the expulsion of all or 
any such members from our order.” 

The above resolution was unanimously passed by 
the Grand State Alliance, and was adopted by the 
mass meeting. 

Dr. O. G. Peterson then submitted for the con- 
sideration of the meeting the followin$&: 


‘¢WuersEas, the editor of the Weatherford ‘Times’ 


has made repeated attacks upon the Farmers’ Alii- 
ance, as a body, through the columns of his paper, 
and sent to the world the false impression that a 
reign of terror exists in the counties of Parker, Wise 
and Jack, on account of mob law carried out by 
the said Farmers’ Alliance; 

‘We the members of the Alliance and citizens of 
Parker County, Texas, in mass meeting assembled 
at the court-house, in the city of Weatherford, do 
most emphatically deny that any such state of af- 
fairs, as named and charged by said editor, exists; 
and we do hereby challenge said editor to produce 
proof of the statements made by him through the 
columns of his paper.” 

It was evident that the Alliance had scored one 
and made a favorable impression upon the audience 
who were willing to know the truth. Indeed, Judge 
Richards arose and in scathing and well-chosen 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 387 


words, uttered his supreme contempt for a man so 
void of principle or honor, who would attempt to 
tarnish the reputation of men engaged in so com- 
mendable a work. 


TEXAS CHARTER. 


Tue Strate or Texas, County or PARKER: 


Know all men by these presents that we, L. S. 
Tackitt, J. H. Dover, and G. M. Plumlee, citizens 
of the state and county aforesaid, and such others 
as they may hereafter associate with them, have 
heretofore — to wit: on the 12th day of August, 
1880—formed themselves, with J. N. Montgomery, 
J. OC. Gilliland, J. 8. Welch, William Thompson and 
others, into an association and organization under 
the name of ‘‘ Farmers’ Alliance,” said association 
being formed for the purpose of encouraging agri- 
culture, horticulture, and to suppress personal, local, 
sectional and national prejudices, and all unhealthy 
rivalry and selfish ambition. The business of said 
corporation is to be transacted in the city of Weath- 
erford, county and state aforesaid. The term of ex- 
istence of this association is fixed at twenty-five 
years from August 12, 1880. 

Tue Trustexs, To-wit:—J. H. Dover, W. T. Bag- 
gett, and L. 8. Tackitt, residents of Parker County, 
were duly elected for the first year ending August 
12, 1881. 

‘‘Said society has no capital stock, and the esti- 


388 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


mated value of the goods, chattels, lands, rights and 
credit, owned by said association, is fifty dollars.” 
The following persons were elected officers for 
twelve months: President, J. N. Montgomery; vice- 
president, W. T. Baggett; secretary, J. H. Dover; 
assistant secretary, J. C. Gilliland; lecturer, L. G. 
Oxford; assistant lecturer, A. Dunlap; treasurer, 
J. W. Sullivan; doorkeeper, J. S. Welch; assistant 
doorkeeper, Wm. Thompson. 

In witness whereof, we, as citizens of the state 
of Texas, have on this 6th day of October, 1880, 
subscribed our names. 

L. 8. Tacxrrr. 
[SIGNeEb. | J. H. Dover. 


G. M. Piumier. 


Tue State or Texas, County or Parker: 


Before me, J. M. Richards, judge of the county 
court of Parker County, State of Texas. 


This day personally appeared L. 8. Tackitt, J. 
H. Dover and G. M. Plumlee, citizens of Texas, to 
me personally known, and acknowledged that they 
signed the above and foregoing instrument of writ- 
ing after the contents of the same had been fully 
made known to them, and that they voluntarily 
signed the same for the purposes and associations 
therein expressed. 

In witness whereof I have hereto signed my 


DE Apie ame, i . 
ENA i. 2 i ¥ ‘ 
Bi. Ber ehh ace Ins freee ethd Oo fea op 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 389 


name and set my seal of office this 6th day of Oc- 
tober, 1880. | : 
[Sranep. | J. M. Ricwarps, 
County Judge, Parker Co., Texas. 


The Srats of Texas, Department of State. 

I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy 
of the original charter of the Farmers’ Alliance of 
Parker County, with the indorsement thereon, now 
on file in this department. 

Witness my official signature and the seal of 
state, at the city of Austin, the 9th day of October, 
Al DD 1880; 2 


[Sear of Srare. ] T. H. Bowman. 
Acting Secretary of State. 


ORGANIZING THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE AT SHREVEPORT, 
AND THE DECLARATION OF PURPOSES OF THE 
FARMERS’ ALLIANCE AND CO-OPERA- 


TIVE UNION OF AMERICA. 


PREAMBLE. 


WuereEas, the wealth, strength and permanency 
of a government depends mainly on the prosperity 
and success of its agriculture and labor, and in) 
these being kept in a healthy state, lies the vigorous 
germ of all true patriotism, and that pure and ele- 


390 THE VOICE.OF LABOR. 


vated moral sentiment, necessary to vitalize and 
keep in active operation the principles and teach- 
ings that alone can preserve and perpetuate repub. 
lican institutions, and the blessings of human liber 
ty; and, | 

WueErzas, one of the prime objects of good gov- 
ernment, should be to promote the intelligence, loy- 
alty and conservatism of its citizens, and afford 
them the highest possible facilities for securing and © 
enjoying the full measure of liberty, prosperity and 
happiness; and, 

WHEREAS, viewing with alarm the tendency in 
this government to reverse these cardinal condi- 
tions — a republican form of government and a free 
and prosperous people —by the concentration of 
its wealth and power in the hands of a few, to the 
impoverishment and bondage of the many, and the 
rapid growth of centralization and aristocracy; and, 

Wuersas, believing further, that the overthrow 
and certain destruction of the growing and menac- 
ing dangers to the institutions of the country and 
the liberties of the people depend on agitation, ed- 
ucation and co-operation, carried on by the means 
of thorough organization of the masses, and espec- 
ially of the agricultural and laboring classes, estab- 
lished upon just and correct principles, non-partisan 
and non-sectarian in character, with clear and well 
defined objects and purposes. 

THEREFORE, we, the Farmers’ Alliance, and Co- 
operative Union of America, in national conven- 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 39) 


tion assembled; in order better to protect our or- 
ganization and meet the necessities of our class 
and a public want, adopt these resolutions; and, 

Wuereas, believing that if these baneful influ- 
ences and tendencies are not checked and over- 
come, they will subvert the government, destroy 
its form and spirit, and in the end utterly i Ay 
ish and enslave the people. 

We therefore publish and adopt the following 
declaration of purposes: 


EDUCATION. 


Regarding the education of the people as funda- 
mental to good fovernment, in sustaining its insti- 
tutions and multiplying its blessings, as well as an 
essential qualification for accomplishing our pur- 
poses, we shall at all times advance and encourage 
it in the highest possible degree among farmers 
and laborers, and their children, by every means 
in our power. Through the means of investigation 
and discussion in cur Alliance meetings, our press 
and public speakers; we propose to examine the va- 
rious methods and systems of education in use, 
with the view to determine the best adapted to the 
wants and conditions of the agricultural and labor- 
ing classes; believing the correct theory, when es- 
tablished, will enhance the moral, physical and in- 
dustrial, as well as the mental culture of our chil- 
dren in every grade of schools; that this system 
will strengthen the attachment of these classes to 


392 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


their profession instead of alienating them from it, - 
as the prevailing methods have a tendencyto do, : 
that it will better qualify them for success and hap- 
piness in life; will render the farm and shop more 
attractive and remunerative; give the means and 
time for more general thought and useful study; in- 
crease the opportunity and inclination to adorn the 
home and practice the social virtues, broaden the 
sphere of their knowledge and usefulness and give 
character and influence to husbandry and labor; 
and for these reasons we are especially friendly to 
industrial education, and shall labor to advance 
and build up the agricultural and mechanical schools 
of the country, by extending to thém every possi- 
ble encouragement and support in our power. 


BUSINESS MATTERS. 


In business matters we believe the prevailing 
system is in many particulars wrong, and that be- 
tween the producer and consumer, the buyer and 
seller, the methods should be changed, the process 
shortened and expenses reduced. Plans should be 
adopted that will more justly and satisfactorily dis- 
tribute profits, and give to labor a fair share of its 
earnings. We believe that in co-operation, a rem- 
edy may be found for most of the evils and inequal- 
ities growing out of the methods now in use; that — 
in co-operation exists, as we believe, fairness and 
equity; that when well understood, and closely ob- 
served, its principles, by intelligent and honest man- 





THE VOICE OF LABOR. 393 


agement, may be successfully applied to most, if 
not all, the business pursuits and enterprises of the 
country; that it possesses the elementary forces for 
solving the vexed question of capital and labor, and 
for breaking the power of monopoly; and, hence, 
we shall urge the study and practice of co-operation 
in the Alliance, as a mighty lever that will lift the ~ 
burdens and weight from labor and the productive 
industries of the country that he with such crushing 
force upon them, and by which the possibilities of 
the Alliance for carrying out its good work may be 
increased and strengthened. 


POLITICAL MATTERS. 


Without disturbing political party lines or party 
affiliations, or provoking partisan feelings or strife, 
we shall boldly enter into the discussion and inves- 
tigation of all laws, public measures, and govern- 
mental policies that havea direct or remote bearing 
on the productive industries of the country, and its 
welfare in general; approving the good and con- 
demning the bad, and offering through the ballot 
and other means in our reach, such remedies for 
existing evils and threatening dangers as we believe 
the public interest demands. We shall teach un- 
falteringly hostility to all class legislation, the tyran- 
ny and oppression of monopoly, excessive taxation, 
the lavish expenditures of public money, and to 
every species of wrong and abuses practiced in gov- 
ernment affairs. We shall denounce and expose 


394 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


fraud and corruption in official places whenever 
discovered, no matter from what source they may 
emanate. We shall encourage and strive to increase 
the facilities among ourselves for a closer study and 
better understanding of the organisms, powers and 
purposes of government; more attention to the laws 
of the country, both local and general, the better to 
understand their scope and meaning, their influence 
on society and the public good; and thus educate 
ourselves in the science of economical government, 
elevate the standard of citizenship, and qualify our- 
selves, without bias, to judge correctly of the merits 
of candidates for office and their efficiency after 
elected. Then we shall co-operate with them in the 
execution of the law, that it may be respected, or- 
der maintained and society improved. 


IN GENERAL. 


We shall discourage law-suits and litigation be- 
tween members of the order, and shall teach and | 
insist that all differences and misunderstandings 
should be settled and adjusted by arbitration in the 
Alliance. In general, we shall strive to cement our 
brotherhood in the closest bonds of a common in- 
terest, and perpetuate our order by frequently meet- 
ing together on all matters that relate to our mental, 
moral, social and financial interest; and to educate, 
train and discipline ourselves to work together in 
carrying out the laudable objects of our order. 

We shall teach and strive to induce our member- 






























































Wives 


TH 


4 SP Vices 
. 


aS 


nn > 


WAR 
ie 
BA" 


h 


S 











From a photograpk 
8 feet 6 inches at base, is 37 feet h 


$3 
ae 
a 2 
vo 
i) 
aS 
3? 
= 5 
HP 
8° 
mS 
ae 
oO m 
o90 
G38 
wM 
% & 
=a 
E 
On 
ee 
E~ 
© ‘8h 
a 
i 
4 
—= 
o 
a 
es 
Caen 
o) 


The fruit from this tree brings from $150 


to $174 every yea. Situated near Waldo, on the Transit R. R. 


Oranges hanging on its boughs. 








THE VOICE OF LABOR. 397 


ship to act upon the important truth, that no great 
undertaking and reform like the Alliance movement 
ean be successful without a clear understanding of 
its principles, purposes and plans, and an earnest 
and intelligent devotion to the cause; that harmony 
of feeling and action, coupled with a persistent ef- 
fort, based upon the great central thought or funda- 
mental idea, that in things essential there should be 
unity, and in all things charity and brotherly kind- 
ness to one another, and good will to all mankind, 
are necessary to insure strength, influence and final 
triumph to our cause; that the evils of which we 
complain andthe condition we would improve are 
the growth of many years, aided largely by class 
legislation, and that it will require bold efforts and 
long and continuous struggles to change and better 
them; thatit must be accomplished largely through 
a change of public sentiment produced by agitation, 
that will arouse and enlighten the masses; and that 
we shall constantly strive to suppress personal, lo- 
cal, sectional and national prejudices: all unhealth- 
ful rivalry and all selfish ambition, and teach that, 
as citizens of one government, we should feel a 
common interest in its affairs; and that our patriot- 
ism and good will for one another should not be 
measured by sections or geographical lines, to suit 
the purposes of politicians. 

By our frequent meetings we confidently believe 
we shall be able to break up the isolated habits of 
farmers,improve their social condition, increase their 


398 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


social pleasures, and strengthen their confidence in 
and friendships for each other. ~ ‘ 


We propose to make the study and improvement | 


of practical agriculture in all its branches a part of 
the mission of the Alliance, that its standard may 
be elevated, its profits increased, and its followers 
made more prosperous and contented. 

We shall encourage more diversity of farming; 
the production of less cotton, and more grain and 
meat; selling less raw material, and more in manu- 
factured articles. 

In our meetings and through our press we shall 
discuss and examine into the best and most approv- 
ed methods of farming; the preparation of the soil; 
planting, cultivation, harvesting, handling and mar- 
‘keting of crops, farm and agricultural products gen- 
erally. Also the raising of stock, dairying, fruit- 
growing, gardening; and, in short, every branch of 
agriculture that goes to make up a full line of farm- 
ing, and render it pleasant and profitable. 

Through our Alliance, we shall endeavor to fur- 
nish facilities for, and shall encourage the study of 
the laws of business and trade, the best methods 
for buying and selling, and the transaction of all 
kinds of business it moy be found desirable for 
farmers and laborers t ‘ugage in; and under all 
circumstances we shali iscourage the credit 
system. 

We propose to attend to our own business affairs 
in our own way, and make no fight against any le 


Ss Cone le 


THE VOICE OF LABOR. 399 


gitimate business; but we shall oppose methods 
found to be contrary to justice and equity. 
Believing that-a strict observance and practice of | 
these teachings, principles and purposes will insure 
our success, we submit our cause to a fair and im- 
partial public, invoking the blessing of Heaven 
upon our undertaking. | 


WOMEN OF THE ALLIANCE. 


The grand secret of unprecedented success of the 
Farmers’ Alliance has been the subject of much 
comment, and finally it has been conceded that one 
of the most efficient and prime factors in building 
up this institution is the admission of women to 
full membership, making them eligible to fill any 
office in connection with the Alliance. And why 
should it not be so? When God placed man in his 
Eden, he saw it was not good for man to be alone, 
and the first man’s happiness was incomplete until 
woman was admitted as a member of that first 
family circle, and since then she has ever held her _ 
place in the most responsible relations in life. Could 
man expect to prosper in any kind of enterprise, 
society or Alliance who would advocate the exclu- 
sion of the wife of his bosom, and the mother of 
his children,from any association or Alliance which 
has for its object the happiness, prosperity and gen- 
eral good of our common humanity founded upon 
right and proper principles? 

++ is an evidence of semi-barbarism, or a low 


400 THE VOICE OF LABOR. 


state of civilization that does not accord to woman 
her right, in placing her on an equal with man. 
Many, and most of the correct and honorable, as 
well as the most successful business transactions a 
man ever engaged in are those in which he has been | 
guided by the advice of his wife. And with woman 
as an ally, what wonder if prosperity and. success 
unprecedented has attended the Farmers’ Alli: 
ance. 

That voice which first fell in bird-like melody 
upon the ear of man, sounds equally as sweet when 
raised in denouncing the evils of monopoly and op- 
pression. The refining and purifying influences re 
ceived from the society of pure and noble woman- 
hood are more potent for good than the pulpit or 
the press. The gentle hand that soothes by its 
magic touch the fevered brow of stricken humanity 
can wield the pen mightier than the sword. For 
the ‘‘hand that rocks the cradle sways the world.” 

United effort and hearty co-operation now is all 


* that is necessary for the Farmers’ Alliance in order 


that her banner may proudly wave till the victor’s 
wreath shall crown their noble and united efforts; 
till from the ranks of intelligent toilers in agri- 
cultural pursuits shall come noble men to take their 
place in the senate-chamber and legislative halls of 
Congress and raise their voice against oppression 
and injustice. . | 

We urge our brethren ol the Alliance to united 
and untiring efforts, regardless of any form of 








ek n Pane 4 
ae upon our” Ras Bo enne 





A 


oe 


ee 
ternal vigilance i is 3 the ees of liberty. uv 











JAGARA FALLS PANORAMA 








“en PHILIPPOTE AUX’ MASTERPIECE. 


- Just come from London, and visited by Queen Victoria, Prince 
and Princess of Wales, Prince Albert Victor, King and Queen of 
— Sweden, and all the crowned heads and nobility of Europe, and 
_ by nearly 3,000,000 people. 








EVERYBODY IN CHICAGO SHOULD SEE IT, 


“The First and Greatest Attraction of the World’s Fair, 
SE. COR. WABASH AV. AND HUBBARD CT. 


Y)pen Daily and Sundays 10 a.M,to10P.™M. 























